


Dinner for Two

by ScarletRedfox



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Artist Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, Human Plagg, Human Tikki, Marichat, Marichat au, Modern AU, Stuffed Toy AU, restaurant AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-07-27 15:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16221881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletRedfox/pseuds/ScarletRedfox
Summary: Marinette thought checking out a restaurant had been a good idea. She expected good food there, good prices and good service. What she didn't expect was a cute, oversized stuffed cat toy as her table companion spewing cat puns all the time. The worst part? She slowly finds herself falling in love, in love with an idea, in love with...the person behind the cat. Marichat AU!





	1. A Furrprising Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Bonjour my fellow Miraculouers and Marichat fans! :3 So, I've already posted a notice on my one shot collection A Smitten Kitten & A Lovestruck Princess about the release date for this story but I miscalculated the date and thought the 15th of February was a Friday :P Ahem…(deep Chat Noir bow) I apawlagize for the little misunderstanding and I hope you enjoy this little piece! :)
> 
> Inspiration: Moomin Café in Japan actually gave me the idea for this story. I've looked it up and read some controversial opinions on it, having stuffed toys seated with lonely customers. I found the idea really cute and appealing and my Marichat brain went on full blast and…this was born. :3
> 
> INFO: This story is an AU! Kwamis don't exist, but our heroes shall still come in many different shapes and forms ;) One doesn't have to wear a suit to be a hero, right? ;) There will be mentions of light Adrienette, mainly Marichat, Human!Plagg & Tikki, Alya & Nino. A question that's sprung up in the PMs I got was: will there be Hawkmoth or will Hawkmoth even exist? Yes and no. Just like with the superhero powers and suits and magical aspects, Hawkmoth won't appear as the traditional villain. Just wait and see! :) It depends on how many people like this story to develop the plot further.
> 
> Dislciamer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or any of its characters and I don't make any money from this
> 
> And lastly…enjoy! :3

 

* * *

_~ **A Furrprising Encounter** ~_

* * *

Marinette let her gaze scan the menu slowly, trying to decide on what to eat. It was her first time in this restaurant, Alya had recommended it to her after Nino had taken her out on their 'surprise' date the day after, talking about how the food was exquisite and how affordable it was in comparison to other more fancy restaurants.

Finally deciding on a simple pasta dish, Marinette smiled kindly at the waiter that took her order, drumming her fingers against the table and checking her phone for messages. The waiter returned first with her water, then minutes later with her food.

She thanked him and smiled, already smitten by the delicious aroma of the steaming plate before her. Having bakers as parents with her mother being a very good cook outside of baking pastries, she had slightly higher expectations than some others. Still, she could appreciate good food when there was some.

Minutes ticked by and Marinette was about to take her first bite after waiting for it to cool when suddenly the waiter from before walked over to her. Her eyes widened as big as saucers when she noticed the giant stuffed cat the man held in his arms, before he placed it on the chair opposite of her.

Marinette hastily called out after noticing the waiter was beginning to leave, "E-Excuse me! I-I didn't order stuffed cat!" she sounded silly, even to herself. Honestly, who _would_ order a stuffed animal? At a restaurant no less?

The man turned back toward her and gestured toward the stuffed animal, "This is one of our principal rules madam," he smiled, "Customers eating alone get to enjoy the privilege of having some company, even in the form of a stuffed animal,"

Marinette's eyes shot to her hairline, surprise clearly radiating off her.

Wait…had Alya known about this? Did she think her friend was lonely? While it _was_ true that Marinette hadn't had a date in a year, it most definitely was _not_ true that she was lonely. Not in particular anyway.

"I'm sorry, but I uhm…I don't need it," she cringed when the waiter winced, obviously thinking he had offended her, "T-thank you for the kind offer though," she smiled, hoping to soften the unintentional blow.

But, when the man picked the stuffed toy up again, the big black cat head visible from over his shoulders, Marinette swore it seemed like the cat was looking at her.

Feeling an odd sense of guilt and loneliness hit her, she timidly called out with a raised hand, "Uhm, please w-wait!"

The waiter stopped mid-step, turning around toward her with a raised eyebrow, "Yes, madam?"

Marinette flushed uncontrollably, fingers fidgeting nervously as she uttered her request in rapid succession, "CanImaybehavethecatback?"

The waiter leaned down closer, face turned to hear her, "Excuse me mademoiselle, I didn't hear you,"

Marinette swallowed down her humiliation at what she was about to request and spoke a little louder and clearer, "M-may I please have the cat back?" she grinned sheepishly, face on fire as the waiter smiled softly and positioned the large black cat back on the chair, facing her.

"I knew the miss would like it, this one seems to be fancied by the ladies quite a lot," he winked and walked off to another group of customers, making Marinette doubt her choice.

Sighing to herself, she began to eat, only to glance up at the stuffed toy after the first bite.

She felt uncomfortable.

It was _staring_ at her while she was _eating alone_.

Now Marinette was by no means shy of eating in public, but having a large stuffed animal have its empty bleary gaze at her while she was eating was another matter entirely, maybe she should call the waiter again…

A loud chorus of laughter suddenly cut the relatively peaceful silence of the restaurant and the soothing music playing in the background, and she glanced to the side to spot a large group of university students laughing and talking animatedly, gesturing wildly with their hands while they talked.

Marinette felt a twinge of jealousy, missing the times when she and her old friends from university would hang out and go and eat after classes.

Shaking her head vigorously, she stubbornly turned back to her food and after every mouthful of the admittedly delicious dish, she felt loneliness eat away at her the more the university students talked and laughed.

She glanced at the stuffed cat quickly.

" _No!_ " she quickly shook her head again, " _I'm a self-respecting, twenty-five-year-old woman, I will_ _ **not**_ _start talking to a stuffed animal because I'm feeling lonely,"_

"This food is really tasty," freezing mid-bite, Marinette groaned.

" _It's okay, I'm just talking to myself, that's fine right? Maybe people talk to themselves,"_ except she was staring straight at the stupid stuffed cat while she was talking.

"This is not happening, I'm not talking to a stuffed toy, I'm a self-respecting woman, I'm a self-respecting-"

"Are you alright, madam?" the waiter strolled by again, noticing the look of conflicted anguish on her face.

Marinette jumped in her seat, quickly plastering what she hoped was a reassuring smile on her face, "Y-yes, yes I'm fine!" she laughed nervously and the waiter nodded respectfully, continuing on his way.

Marinette slumped back in her seat, sighing heavily.

Hesitantly, she looked at the cat again.

It was large, she was sure if she would pick up it, it would easily dwarf her torso, but it was small enough to sit on the chair and not fall off it. It was completely black, save for it's bright green eyes. Black cat ears adorned the top of its head and Marinette fought down the sudden, childish urge to reach out and feel the texture of them. Oddly enough, it's paw prints were green.

Green?

What an odd color to give to a cat's paws…

She shrugged, figuring it was perhaps a new trend she didn't know anything about.

She became more interested in finishing her meal, after contemplating for a solid twenty seconds if she was losing her sanity after almost asking the stuffed toy out loud if it wanted to eat something too.

Maybe Alya was right, maybe she was getting delusional from her dry spell of not dating for a year.

Maybe the loneliness was getting to her.

But that didn't make any sense to her, she was socializing, just not… _overly_ so. She still hung out with Alya and her boyfriend Nino and all their other friends from university, just not as often as she would have liked. Running a small boutique and designing her clothes herself took a lot of her free time, it was a miracle she could even go out with Alya twice a week due to the increase in orders for custom made dresses for the summer.

Marinette sighed, resting her face in her hands. She slowly lifted it and rested her elbows on the table, looking at the cat with a critical eye, "I bet you don't have any problems socializing," remembering the water mentioning something about this particular toy being "fancied by the ladies".

Maybe it _were_ the green paw prints…they did look kind of adorable.

Shaking her head violently, Marinette lifted her hand to her forehead to check her own temperature, " _I must be losing my mind,"_

"Well, at least the food was really good," it really was, she would definitely consider coming here again, but next time _without_ the weird company of her temporary stuffed companion.

Sighing heavily, Marinette was about to count her money to pay for the bill when suddenly, she heard a voice, distinctively male, "Yeah, I'm stuffed,"

She froze, eyes quickly glancing to her right and left repeatedly, trying to find who could have possibly spoke so close to her without her knowing.

The closest patron to her was a middle aged woman, eating her noodle soup with a large, oversized bear as her dinner company.

Marinette blinked and ran a hand down her face in exasperation, "Great, I must be really losing it,"

Again, that voice, " _Yeah, I'm stuffed_ ,"

Freezing on the spot, Marinette slowly, robotically, turned her head toward the cat toy opposite of her, staring lifelessly at her.

"….Did you just… _talk_?" her right eye twitched.

Great. Now _she_ was talking to a large, oversized cat toy.

 _Again,_ " _The food is clawsome!"_

She jumped in fright, "D-did it just pun?!" she held her hands up defensively, eyes wide in shock.

_No, no, no, no, no, this couldn't be happening!_

But it _was_!

Shooting the cat a dark look, she settled back onto her seat against the cushioned surface of her chair, warily eyeing the toy.

Now it didn't say anything anymore. Perhaps it reacted to being talked to?

Feeling foolish, Marinette cast quick glances around her, making sure everybody within potential hearing range was too busy with their food before she very quietly whispered, "Hi,"

Her heart leapt into her throat when the cat actually _replied_ , "Nice to _meowt_ you," there it was again! That voice!

So, it really _could_ talk!

She shook her head. They must have implanted a speaker inside the toy to not make customers feel so lonely. Funny, she distinctively remembered one of the kids she was occasionally babysitting, Manon, had a similar figure which repeated its catchphrases when a string on its back was pulled.

Marinette giggled to herself, feeling foolish for some reason.

Relaxing again after a while, she reached into her purse and called the waiter over to pay, glancing back at the stuffed cat, "Hm…I guess, it was nice meeting you too, kitty," she had to stifle a giggle when the waiter came to take her money.

He eyed the empty plate first, before he noticed the smile on her face, his schooled neutral expression melted into a small smile, "I assume the madam has enjoyed the company?"

Marinette giggled out loud, "Yes, I have, thank you again. The food was wonderful, my compliments to the chef," the waiter bowed and left, leaving Marinette alone with the cat toy.

She thought he would remove it when she paid, but it still remained there, watching her. At least, she felt like it did.

Grabbing her jacket, Marinette looked around before she allowed her fingers to gently caress the black cat ears perched on top of its head, marveling at the softness.

She quickly pulled her hand back when an elderly couple walked passed her, grinning nervously.

"Thank you for the food, have a nice day!" Marinette called to the two waiters at the counter, before pausing, "…and for the special feature of your stuffed animals, it makes dining alone much more enjoyable," she offered both men a bright smile.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette made her way toward the exit of the restaurant, the soothing music playing softly in the background calming her mind as she cast one last glance back at the black cat toy.

She thought the cat was staring at her.

* * *

Taking the headset off his head, a great sigh could be heard coming from the small room and one of the waiters knocked gently on the door, the voice from the inside answering, "Come in,"

"Are you alright? It's almost time for your break," the waiter rose an eyebrow at the array of water bottles, coke cans and smelly cheese bits cluttered around the cramped space.

The figure seated at the swiveling chair groaned, "Thanks Pierre, I'll be out in a minute. And please tell Plagg to clean up after he eats his smelly cheese," the young man rolled his eyes, bright green eyes twinkling in amusement when the waiter chuckled and closed the door.

The man sighed and checked the video tapes, turning off the microphone on his headset while his eyes scanned the customers of today.

One particular customer caught his eye and he moved the camera back toward the specific video footage, showing a young woman with dark hair worn in pigtails sitting with a large, black stuffed cat toy.

He sighed, eyes narrowing, before his lips curled in a smirk, "She seemed interesting," he chuckled when he replayed their brief one-sided conversation.

 _"_ _She actually thought she was going crazy…"_ he shook his head, chuckling when he remembered a thing she had said about socializing.

_I bet you don't have any problems socializing._

Blonde hair fell into green eyes and the man ran a hand through the messy blonde tresses, now wild and untamed after so many times of combing through it with his hands. He stood up from his seat and stretched his back, walking over to the door and knocking on it twice.

A few minutes after, the door opened and Pierre handed him his own cooked meal, after thanking his colleague, the young man plopped back down on his chair, watching the video footage of the dark haired woman again as he chewed on his noodles.

" _Hm…she seemed kinda lonely,"_ he hummed thoughtfully, smiling at her shocked and embarrassed reaction when he had first spoke into the speaker device.

Placing his finished plate aside, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, putting the caller on speaker while he set up his station.

A bored voice drawled through his phone, _"What?"_

The blonde snickered, "Where are you? Your break was over five minutes ago, Plagg,"

Another sigh, _"Don't get your panties in a twist kid, Tikki held me up and you know how she gets when she starts talking about her favorite bakery,"_ there was annoyance but also open fondness in his friend's voice.

He chuckled, "Yeah, I know. Okay, I think I can forgive you if you clean up your mess of stinky cheese here, you know I can't allow any food in the computer room,"

Plagg yawned, _"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I'll be over in five minutes. Hey Adrien, get me some of my camembert ready,"_ with that, the call ended.

Adrien sighed and pocketed his phone again, grimacing at the pungent smell of the camembert cheese in the room as he walked over to his bag and fished out a small package of the stinking monstrosity and placing it on his partner's side of the compute r room, before returning to his own seat at the right.

He still couldn't get that woman out of his mind, especially the way she looked at him, or rather the cat, right before she left the restaurant.

Well…at least she liked his puns.


	2. Out of the Bag

 

* * *

~ ** _Out of the Bag_** ~

* * *

"Alya! I'm telling you! It was _staring_ at me!" Marinette groaned, running a hand down her face in frustration.

Her phone was next to her head, Alya put on speaker, " _Girl, are you for real? We're still talking about a stuffed toy, right?"_

In all honesty, Marinette wasn't sure anymore about _what_ they were talking about. Alya had immediately asked how her visit to the restaurant was, if the food was as good as she promised and if she got to sit with a stuffed toy. Since Alya had been with Nino there, she hadn't gotten one, so she went full blown reported mode on her friend.

Marinette sighed, falling back on her bed, " _Yes_ …and it _talked_ ," she quickly explained before Alya could officially brand her as insane, "It had a device in it that repeated certain words or sentences when it's spoken to, I mean." She sighed, staring at her wall.

Oddly enough, a distorted shape of a head with cat ears appeared briefly on the surface of her wall but when Marinette shook her head and looked at it again, it was gone.

A sigh, " _But the food there is great, right? Did I promise too much? Of course not! No offense to your newfound affection for cats girl, but I would appreciate it if you would make goo goo eyes at a real man than some old, fat and ugly guy probably stuck in some cramped space doing all these recordings for those stuffed animals,"_ she could practically _feel_ Alya cringe at the idea and Marinette had to cringe too.

Well… _that_ sounded awful.

"It had soft ears…" Marinette couldn't keep the large grin from spreading on her face.

" _MARINETTE!"_ Alya's enraged shout caused Marinette to erupt into giggles on her bed, holding her stomach as her friend fumed, " _Ugh! You're impossible!"_

Once she finally recovered from her giggle fit, Marinette grabbed her phone and drew it closer to her face, "Sorry, I couldn't resist." she smiled, appreciating the change of topic, "Anyway, how's Nino doing? He said something about becoming a new prodigy DJ?" she rose an eyebrow in amusement, giggling when Alya gave an amused snort.

" _Well, you know how he is… From what I noticed in the media and on my blog, Nino's a hot topic right now so maybe the idea of a 'prodigy' DJ isn't too farfetched…"_ she giggled teasingly, " _Of course, if his famous blogger girlfriend helps him get a few more followers,"_ Alya laughed and Marinette giggled, shaking her head.

She knew Alya would, she was always the most supporting friend Marinette could possibly wish for. Unfortunately, Alya, bless her soul, coud… _overdo_ sometimes…

" _So, did Nathaniel call again? I'm assuming he keeps stumbling over his own tongue before he asked you out, right?"_ a flood of panic suddenly seized Marinette like a vice and she shot up in bed.

" _Alya_! I forgot to call Nath and cancel!" her fingers were flying over the screen before Alya had time to reply, momentarily ending her call with Alya to quickly ring up Nathaniel.

Nathaniel and her had designed the latest fashion line in time for the annual fashion shoot, but they were supposed to have a business-esque meeting today to discuss the final details.

The worst thing was, Nathaniel had falsely misinterpreted it as a 'date' and Marinette was at a loss of how to gently reject him without ruining their good friendship and partnership.

One of the famous fashion firms, who happened to be in a cooperation with none other than _Gabriel Fashion_ had given them the contract for the next photo shoot which was due in a few days.

"Alright, you can do this, you can do this, you caaaa-H-Haaai! Nathaniel, hi!" she squeaked, nearly falling out of her own bed at the male voice suddenly speaking to her, violently ripping her from her self-practiced speech.

" _H-hi Marinette! How are you? How comes you're c-calling?"_ his stuttering had improved in spades since their partnership began two years ago, but it would still come back with a vengeance whenever she surprised or startled him.

Like now.

She took a deep breath, fingers clenching the material of her bedsheets tightly, "I'm fine! Um, how are you doing?" she felt herself sweat. Why did this have to be so _difficult_?

Nathaniel, ever the poor oblivious man, was none the wiser, " _Good, good. I,uh, I just finished up on some new sketches for the final drafts. You can take a look over them once we meet up today for our date-"_

"That's the thing!" she laughed nervously, nails digging deeply into the softness of her bed, "Would…would it be possible to…reschedule?" she shut her eyes tightly closed, heart beating a hundred miles per minute, already dreading the crestfallen look on her friend's face.

There was a short pause and Marinette almost thought he hung up on her until his voice came out softly, " _…Did something come up? Are you alright? You're not ill, are you?"_

Marinette's heart melted at the genuine concern she heard in his voice and ignored the deep sting of guilt that stabbed her, "Yes, I…I'm fine it's just- I really have to help my parents with the bakery and it's impossible for me to make it on time today!"

She felt the deep blush of shame cover her entire face and Marinette had to ground herself not to tell him the truth. Nathaniel's voice sounded sad but understanding, " _Oh, I see. Um, would…would next week on Tuesday be okay for you?"_

She was thankful he couldn't see her, see the guilt in her eyes and her tight-lipped smile, "Yes, Tuesday would be perfect. Thank you so much for understanding Nathaniel," she hoped she sounded genuine, she really _was_ thankful.

Her hand gripped the phone tighter, " _No problem Marinette, good luck! A-and good night!"_ she giggled, returning the sentiment before hanging up and falling back on her bed.

Her arm covered her face and she groaned, "I'm a horrible person…"

Her stomach grumbled.

She forgot to go grocery shopping today…

* * *

"Good evening, is there still a table available?" Marinette smiled, recognizing the waiter from her last visit here.

The elder male smiled politely at her and beckoned towards the same table she had first occupied, "This way madame,"

Marinette smiled and sat down, nodding her head in gratitude when the waiter handed her the menu.

She skimmed through the meals, one after the other, trying to decide what she should eat.

A shiver ran up her spine and she could have sworn she was being watched.

Whipping her head around suspiciously, Marinette couldn't find anything amiss, until she spotted a large black stuffed toy, sitting on the opposite side of a blond, attractive woman.

She couldn't explain why, it was utterly ridiculous, but she felt a small sense of relief flood her when she realized it wasn't a cat but a large panda.

" _Mon dieu!"_ Marinette buried her face against the propped up menu in front of her helplessly, mentally trying to count how many brain cells she had left for her to think of such stupid, _stupid-_

"Bless you mademoiselle," she jumped when the waiter from before was standing before her and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she noticed-

"Kitty?"

The waiter moved his gaze toward the toy, then back at her, " _Oui_ , does the lady request for a different one?" he arched an eyebrow and Marinette paused.

…Nobody ever asked her if she wished for another toy since her kindergarten days, hearing it now coming from an adult, while _she_ was an adult, felt very surreal. She wasn't sure how to phrase her answer at all, "Um…i-it's alright…thank you," she squeaked out the last part, wanting nothing more than the ground to swallow her up as she shrunk in on herself in her seat.

Marinette made her order and blushed when the waiter smiled and adjusted the cat toy in its seat, almost as if it were a real human before walking away.

She stared at the toy for a moment, before groaning and burying her face in her hands, her voice quiet as she whispered into her palms, "Why me…"

" _Good evening, m'lady!"_

She jumped, hands frozen in position above her head as if preforming a martial art move she had no knowledge of, before she quickly lowered her arms, glancing around the restaurant to make sure nobody saw her embarrassing stunt.

She cleared her throat, "Um…good…evening?"

She was ridiculous.

She needed _help_.

Alya was _right_.

Not having a date in a year resulted in her losing touch with reality and reduced her to talking to a stuffed _toy_!

She sighed, eyes widening slightly when the cat talked again, the slightly distorted voice sounding like a young man's, " _Hello, little lady! I'm Chat Noir!"_

Chat Noir?

She laughed. Actually laughed.

Shaking her head and taking discreet glances around to make sure nobody was watching her, Marinette quietly whispered back to the toy, "Chat Noir, huh? Well, that sure is a surprise," she giggled, highly amused at herself for talking to inanimate objects.

" _Nice to meat you!"_ she giggled at the pun before freezing up.

Wait…

How did this thing know she had ordered something with meat? Or had the pun been purely coincidental?

Shaking her head to dispel her suspicions, she leaned back against the cushion-like surface of her chair, sighing, "Nice to meet you too, kitty." Her eyes twinkled in amusement and she leaned her elbows against the table, resting her chin on top of her joined hands, "Well, you're a cute cat I'll give you that," she laughed at her own joke but the cat remained quiet and Marinette tilted her head to the side.

The cat suddenly mewled, " _Meow!"_ a rather startled, abrupt sound as if the speaker, if there truly was any, remembered to speak.

She smiled, shaking her head.

She knew what she was about to do was ridiculous, she knew talking to a stuffed cat toy about her daily problems was a very good way to get herself a one-way ticket to the clinic, but she had to vent.

If not to Alya, then to a noncommittal, inanimate toy.

Marinette took a deep breath, "You know…no, what am I talking about you probably don't have these problems, being…well a _toy_ but… _ugh_!" she ran her hands through her hair in exasperation, before hiding her face behind her propped hands again, "I…kind of blew off a coworker and great friend today…he's really nice, the sweetest person on earth but…" she sighed, exhaustion finally making its way onto her face, "I…just don't like him that way. The problem is he liked me since we attended college together and I'm confused and guilty because I lied about having to help my parents in the bakery instead of going through our business date today…" she pouted, adding as an after-thought, "…which he thinks is a _real_ date…"

Her shoulders slumped in defeat, guilt etched clearly onto her pretty face, "I…just got scared, turned tail and ran really," she chuckled dryly, "I'm not the type to deceive him and I would only hurt him more by leading him on. I don't understand what he likes about me but…it makes me sad to think that I would have to be the one to break his heart where I am the master of one sided love," she laughed, the sound hollow.

The cat remained quiet for a while and Marinette stared at its sleek dark fur, as if it was being washed regularly and taken care of by the staff here. She never even knew restaurants could offer such service, it seemed so… personal.

While it was only a stuffed toy, to a lonely person or simply someone having a bad day it could mean the whole world, not having to stare at a wall while eating, but instead looking at a really cute animal with big eyes and round ears. It almost seemed therapeutic, if the customers talked to the toy like she was and venting about their day, releasing all the pent up stress and frustration that real people failed to offer comfort and insight to.

The little paw prints were bright green and she wondered idly if the toy was new, the color bound to dull at some point, right?

She finally settled on looking into its big green eyes and she felt her heart lung in her throat at the odd sensation that they looked almost… _human_. They still looked artificial, like on any other toy, but she couldn't decided why this particular one made her feel so weird.

" _Purrety lady!"_

Marinette was so caught off guard by the unexpected compliment that she didn't know what to say for several minutes, before she barely stifled another giggle behind her hand, "Well, aren't you a charmer?" her expression softened and she felt the sudden urge to touch its ears again. "I bet you took out many girls to dinner before, hm?" she giggled quietly, covering her mouth.

The toy remained quiet for a few seconds before it responded, " _I once asked a teddy bear to dinner, but he said 'No thanks, I'm already stuffed,'"_

Marinette, despite the ridiculously overused pun, found herself laughing out loud, hand half covering her mouth and just before she calmed down, she heard a short but rich laugh coming from the cat and tensed.

Wait…

" _I thought Alya was joking when she said there was a real person talking through this thing! I thought they had recordings for that!"_ her eyes widened in panic suddenly.

Was she talking to a real person through the stuffed toy? Its responses were far too accurate to appear random and something out of the blue, something recorded and scripted. Oh god, what if the guy was far too old and he was leering at her from some dark, creepy corner or room? What if the guy talking on the microphone was some mentally unstable creep that had a weird fetish with stuffed toys?

Suddenly nervous, Marinette straightened her back, "You…" she swallowed nervously, adjusting her collar, "You're not…real right? Like…a _real person_?"

She blinked, staring imploringly at the toy.

She felt foolish.

What if people observed her from the sidelines and thought she was some crazy cat woman that talked to toys? What if they thought she was a lunatic and would call the police on her? What if she was making herself crazy for _nothing_ -

" _Well, purrincess-"_

"Your order, mademoiselle," the waiter from before came back and set her full plate, spaghetti bolognese, in front of her along with her water making Marinette jump slightly in surprise, " _Bon apettit!"_

Marinette smiled, stomach growling at the prospect of food, " _Merci_ ," she smiled brightly at the man and he left with a small, secretive smile and she could have sworn it was directed at the cat.

Burying down her suspicions in the meantime, she started quickly but politely eating her food, ignoring the stare from the stupid cat.

The silence stretched during the duration of her finishing up her plate, when Marinette thought of Nathaniel.

Her eyes moved to her phone, biting her bottom lip nervously. Should she call? Should she apologize and tell him the truth? Would he hate her for it? What would she do about the fashion shoot if he refuses to work with her? Could she afford to finish everything in time? Hire another artist?

So many questions, along with the stressful schedules of the previous week swam through her mind and Marinette felt the sting in her eyes before she could stop it.

Quickly wiping away any stray tears before other patrons noticed, Marinette reached for her phone, finger sliding across the display and looking at the time.

_8:30pm_

Great. She was crying in a restaurant at 8:30pm with obviously nothing better to do.

She knew she did wrong, she knew Nathaniel wasn't to blame for his affections, but she seriously asked herself how she could lie to him where he was so honest and kind to her.

Marinette half -heartedly poked at the small meatball still left on her plate, a deep frown etched onto her face as she tried to will away the onslaught of tears.

* * *

Adrien watched the woman before him break down into tears.

Well, she didn't exactly break down, more like discreetly rubbing away at the liquid before any other patrons or staff could notice.

He frowned deeply.

What should he do? What _could_ he do? He wasn't allowed to leave the room until all the guests left the restaurant and it was closing time, but he _had_ to do _something_.

This woman was so genuinely kind and funny and curious, she seemed like a nice person, so what could possibly cause her such grief?

She had looked at her phone and Adrien's first thought was a boyfriend, or possible ex but he shook his head. She didn't seem like the type to cry over guys, at least he thought so.

She did mention her coworker but…as far as his people skills helped him in this, he deduced it was a one sided love on his part and she had no real interest in him aside from friendship.

She wiped away more tears and Adrien's heart broke for her.

The moment her eyes opened and he found himself staring at the sad, blue eyes through the camera of the toy, Adrien made a mad split second decision.

It was crazy.

It was forbidden.

Restaurant policies had him in a bind, but it went against his code to just _ignore_ crying people. Stuffed toy or not.

With that, Adrien turned on his microphone.

* * *

Marinette wiped away the last remains of her tears quickly, stuffing the tissue in her jeans pocket until the familiar voice of her table companion broke the silence, " _Don't cry princess, your beautiful eyes don't deserve to shed those tears,"_

Her body froze but her brain was working into overdrive.

The cat had just complimented her.

The cat just tried to comfort her.

It was weird, she thought she might really be going insane, but the words that left the cat, real or not, were so cheesy, so _corny_ that she couldn't help but smile and giggle quietly.

She sniffed, blinking back tears, " _There you go, a smile befits a princess more,"_

She released a short laugh and cautiously looked at the toy, "I'm…not going crazy am I? I mean…you were talking to me…right?" she smiled a small smile, at this point, she didn't even care if it was all in her head.

It felt nice talking to someone other than Alya or Nino.

The cat released an odd sound which sounded suspiciously like a purr, " _No, you're not, I apurre you, m'lady,"_

Marinette rose an eyebrow, _my lady?_

Her eyes suddenly flew open when realization hit her like a truck and she was forcibly thrust out of her sadness, "W-wait…you…you _talk_! I mean…you're _talking to me_?" she blinked rapidly, feeling stumped.

The cat remained quiet and the silence oddly made Marinette giddy, as if it wasn't already bad enough that she engaged in conversation with an object, she was actually curious to what the toy would _respond_ , if it could anyway.

Perhaps Alya had set this up-

" _Well, purrincess,"_ the cat, no, the _person_ , began speaking, " _It looks like the cat is out of the bag,"_

Marinette's eyes narrowed slightly, "…Wait, so…you mean you're a real person? I'm not talking to a computer?" she sighed in relief, "Well, at least I know I'm not going crazy just yet,"

There was a chuckle and Marinette smiled, " _I'm as real as you are princess,"_ his voice, even altered by a computer, softened, " _Sorry for saying the same things at the beginning all the time, I kinda have a script I have to follow,"_

The realization that she was talking to a real human being made her hyperaware of every word that left the stuffed toy, but she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the person's words, "Did that script also tell you to comfort whiny customers during their emotional breakdowns?" she propped her chin on her hand, a small smile on her lips.

She should feel mortified to know a stranger had watched her cry, but in this situation, maybe because she was looking at a cute, large cat toy, she oddly felt…peaceful.

The voice turned serious, lacking it's usual humorous tone, " _You're not whiny, my lady and no, that bit was purely improvised,"_ she smiled and chuckled at the cat puns.

"…What's…what's your name?" she smiled but felt a bit foolish for asking, since to other people, she still was talking to a toy and essentially herself.

There was a short pause before the voice sounded, " _Call me…Chat Noir,"_

The dark haired woman rose an eyebrow curiously, slightly amused, "Chat Noir? Really?" she smirked, leaning back and crossing her arms.

Another chuckle, " _Hey, you're talking to a stuffed animal I think it's fair,"_

She shook her head in amusement and then, "And your real name, monsieur?" she couldn't help but giggle at the soft snort that escaped the cat.

" _Well, other than asking you to stop calling me 'monsieur' since I'm not that old. My real name must remain confidential. Sorry princess, restaurant policies and all,"_ he sounded genuinely apologetic and Marinette didn't feel offended.

She nodded affirmatively, hoping the man behind the cat saw it, "I see…well then _Chat Noir_ I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" her smile was hopeful if not a little timid. She had no idea who the man behind the toy was, nor did she know how old he was, but he seemed nice. Feeling oddly playful, she stood up, bag in one hand and reached for the paw with the other, shaking it gently in a mock hand shake.

The male chuckle came again and it sent a small shiver down Marinette's spine, one she hoped was purely coincidental, " _Sounds good princess, I'll be there,"_ the humorous, teasing tilt was back.

Marinette smiled brightly, feeling good for the first time today, "Good night, kitty. Bye," she waved and even though he couldn't wave back, she still left the restaurant with a beaming smile on her lips, ignoring the questioning looks on the customers faces.

She had a hot date with a cat to look forward to after all.

* * *

Adrien was practically vibrating in his seat, placing his headset down and whirling around on his chair multiple times, until the door suddenly opened.

"I knew you would get crazy in here one day," Plagg shuffled his way in, his lanky form settling on the opposite side of the room, precious cheese already in hand as he watched the oddly giddy man.

Adrien straightened in his seat, emerald eyes sparkling, "Plagg! I think I just made a friend!"

"Oh boy,"

"It's great! I was finally able to _talk_ to her without her freaking out…much and knowing who I was!" Adrien slumped back in his chair, sighing heavily in relief.

Plagg watched him suspiciously, "So…you told her you were the one talking through the cat?" he tilted his head to the side, his green eyes even more vibrant than Adrien's own.

The blond nodded rapidly, grinning from ear to ear, "Yes! And I even comforted her when she was sad! I think she liked it! Plagg, do you know what this means?"

The man deadpanned, "Therapy?"

Adrien rolled his eyes, "No! That means whenever she comes here I can talk to her freely! Without sticking to a script!" he laughed.

Plagg's expression softened for but a moment until he schooled it into his usual disinterested look, "Uh-huh…what about the other customers? Don't tell me you plan on revealing yourself to them too?" his gaze narrowed warningly.

Adrien held his hand up, "No, don't worry. It…it was just different with that woman I guess. I just felt so sorry for her and I really wanted to help her so…yeah," he scratched the back of his neck timidly, "I think she didn't mind…I mean at least now she doesn't think she's crazy anymore," he chuckled.

"And she didn't freak out one bit when you told her you were an internationally famous model?" Plagg arched a brow skeptically, boring holes into his friend.

Adrien paused, fingers drumming against his leg, "Um…I didn't tell her that." He grinned sheepishly, "I uh, I told her a false…name so to say,"

Plagg crossed his arms, "Alright, spill, what grandiose name did you make up? I swear, if it's one of those stupid fantasy names you get from those video games of yours I'll-"

Adrien waved his hand dismissively, "No, no, no! Nothing like that I promise," he paused briefly, a slow grin spreading on his lips, "I told her to call me Chat Noir;"

Plagg snorted loudly, munching on his cheese, "How original,"

Adrien glared, "Hey, that's better than just saying my real name, you know?" his accusatory gaze made Plagg hiss.

"For the record, how many people would believe me if I said my real name _was_ Plagg? Besides, Tikki's the only one who knows," he shrugged nonchalantly.

Adrien frowned, "…I guess you're right," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, a small smile spreading over his lips, "You know…maybe this could actually work,"

Plagg tilted his head to the side, akin to a cat, questioningly.

"I think that…" Adrien looked at the video footage again, zooming in on the woman's laugh, "Maybe we both wouldn't feel so lonely anymore after this,"

With Adrien's back turned to him, Plagg's expression softened and he stopped himself in time before he reached over to pat Adrien on the head consolingly.

Plagg shook his head, leaning back against his chair, "Maybe you're right kid," his eyes zeroed in on the woman's laugh and the way Adrien's mouth tilted upwards into a smile, "Maybe you're right,"

And suddenly, Adrien bolted upright, eyes wide in alarm, " _Plagg!_ "

"WHAT?!" the lanky male jumped in his seat, alarmed at the way his friend reacted.

" _I FORGOT TO ASK FOR HER NAME!"_

The dark-haired man face palmed.


	3. The Cat named Chat Noir

* * *

  _~ **The Cat Named Chat Noir** ~_

* * *

"Marinette?" Alya's voice rang from some distant place, as if there but absent at the same time.

She thought she imagined it.

The blue haired woman absentmindedly drummed her fingers against the desk, eyes scanning her designs distractedly.

"Marinette?"

Drawing a slightly more pointed curve, she smiled faintly when two perfectly shaped cat ears greeted her, perched on a round shape meant to be a head.

 _"_ _MARINETTE!"_

"Eek!" she jumped, pencil flying and rolling off the desk down to the floor, the baker's daughter hastily leaning down to pick it up and grin sheepishly at Alya.

The auburn-haired woman shook her head at her friend, "Seriously, what's gotten you so distracted? Normally you can't wait for us to meet and talk," she ran a finger down the warm surface of her cup, raising an eyebrow, "We barely have time as it is to meet and now you're spacing out on me? I'm hurt, girl, _hurt_ ," Alya pouted, crossing her arms stubbornly.

No matter the situation, Alya knew her friend was weak for her pouts.

Today was no different as Marinette groaned, signaling Alya's easy victory.

"I'm sorry Alya, I really am. I…I was a bit distracted by my thoughts, that's all," Marinette smiled softly, attempting to placate her friend, who was known to have a bit of a fiery temper.

Unfortunately for her, Alya's reporter eyes, or hawk eyes as Marinette called them, never seemed to catch a break as her best friend immediately drilled her for answers, "Cat ears? Is this about the stuffed toy again?" she 'tsked', "Mari, you know I love you and support you in everything you do, but if you'll start falling for a piece of soft stuffing and wool then I'm afraid I'll have to disown you,"

Alya seemed dead serious and Marinette had to giggle, shaking her head, "Don't worry, it's nothing. I've just been thinking." Marinette bit her lip, contemplating on whether or not to tell her, "If I was maybe a bit unfair to Nathaniel…I mean all he wanted was to help and get the final drafts for the fashion show done, maybe I was reading too much into it or I read the situation wrong,"

Alya sighed, fingers tracing invisible lines on the warm surface of her mug, "Listen girl, that poor, oblivious man has a crush on you since we attended Dupont. I never really expected it to last this long, considering you didn't even stay in contact for years until you got the job. But…it's fine isn't it? You know you can always be honest with Nathaniel and just tell him how you feel," she offered her a small smile.

Marinette groaned, slamming her face against the table, "But I _did_ Alya! I tried anyway…maybe I wasn't direct enough? You know I'm not all too good at these things,"

Alya rose an eyebrow skeptically, "…You mean rejecting people?"

" _Yes!_ " Marinette fell forward, face buried in her arms.

Alya patted her consolingly on the head, sipping her coffee calmly, "Maybe dating your dream cat isn't such a bad idea, I heard people get married to crazier things," she paused, thinking, "I think I read once somewhere that a guy got married to his car…" her face scrunched up in disgust, shaking her head, "…At least you can cuddle a toy…" she shrugged.

"Alya! You're _not_ helping!" Marinette groaned in exasperation.

The reported sighed, "Alright, alright. How about you just gather your courage and meet with Nathaniel for that meeting? It's for work, right? So treat it purely professional, if by chance our super shy tomato child gets courage from somewhere and attempts to make something more out of it then just tell him how you feel," she rubbed her friend's shoulder, a soft look in her eyes, "Trust me, the longer you draw it out the harder it will be,"

Marinette nodded mutely, acknowledging Alya's departure with a small grunt, who excused herself to work.

Several moments of absolute silence passed, until Marinette's head violently shot up, eyes wide in surprise as she frantically patted her wrists, " _I FORGOT MY BRACELET!"_

* * *

"…You know, in most countries, this is considered a crime," Plagg drawled from beside him, eyes drawn to the way his partner's hands gently, tentatively traced over the unique looking bracelet in his hands.

Adrien frowned, "I'm not some criminal, Plagg. Besides, I didn't steal it, she forgot it at the restaurant and I just…grabbed it before anyone else could," he observed the accessory in his hand, "It looks…handmade, maybe she made it herself?" he turned it over and over, fascinated with it like a cat with a ball of yarn.

Plagg rolled his eyes, munching on a piece of camembert, "Yeah, that's called _stealing._ Look, I know you lived a sheltered life and all, but even I know you were supposed to leave it there so the staff could pick it up or at least gave it to Pierre so he could return it to her when he saw her next time," he swallowed the chewed bit of cheese in his mouth, watching his friend's odd fascination with the piece of jewelry, "…How will you return it to her anyway?"

Adrien frowned, safely pocketing it in his jacket pocket as Plagg and him approached the store, "It's okay, I can give it to her when she comes next time," he smiled, entering the store first.

Plagg followed, confused, "How without revealing yourself?"

Adrien smiled, a smile far too secretive for his liking, "Adrien?"

Plagg frowned, walking faster to get a clear look at his face, "…You're plotting,"

Adrien's smile grew, "No, I'm not,"

The dark-haired male glared suspiciously, "…Spit it out kitten, where do I have to hide the body?" he rose an eyebrow, swiftly snatching a few packages of camembert off the shelf as he followed after Adrien.

The blond model chuckled, "Very funny Plagg. Don't worry, I won't reveal myself to her, you'll see," he grinned, feeling playful for some odd reason.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and his cheerful attitude deflated like a balloon. Plagg immediately noticed the change, but chose not to comment on it, discreetly watching his friend from the corner of his eye, "What's up?" he tried sounding nonchalant, but the worry in his tone was unmistakable.

Adrien quietly pocketed his phone, the smile he gave to him made Plagg sick.

It was his forced model smile, "Father said I have an appointment with Theo, guess we will have to reschedule our lunch at another time." With an increasing sense of dread, Plagg forlornly watched his friend backtrack toward the exit.

"I'm sorry Plagg! Next time it's on me!" Adrien waved, the gesture halfhearted and not as enthusiastic as his gesticulations a minute ago when he was talking about that woman.

A frown settled on his face and he swallowed the lump in his throat, thoughts of camembert and a relaxing afternoon before work all but forgotten, "Yeah…next time, buddy," Plagg sighed and with a heavy heart, retrieved his phone from his pocket.

After dialing a number, Plagg waited several seconds until the person on the other line finally picked up.

" _Hey Plagg!"_

A small smile adorned Plagg's lips and he felt only a bit lighter, the pain he felt for Adrien a dull ache in his chest, "Hey Tikki, mind if I come over for lunch? Adrien…has an appointment,"

There was a split-second pause until Tikki finally answered, " _Sure, come over."_

Plagg smiled, his voice hollow, "Thanks," and he hung up.

Slowly walking toward the exit, Plagg dragged his feet behind him, suddenly feeling heavier than he actually was.

He passed by a poster on his way to Tikki's place.

It was Adrien along with his father's fashion brand name on top.

* * *

White and grey walls greeted his arrival, the cool colors seemingly giving the entire building a cool temperature to boot, because suddenly Adrien felt cold, despite the light jacket he was wearing. He always felt cold when entering his father's company building. Adrien shook his head and stopped right in front of the door, his knock seemed to echo endlessly through the door to his father's office until the man himself offered a verbal permission to enter.

The door was heavy, entirely made of steel, thin in build, stylish in appearance, blending in nicely with the rest of the color scheme of his father's company.

His father's office was similar, almost spartan-like in furniture save for four decorative pillars reminiscent of Greek figurines positioned at each corner of the room, paintings lining the walls, one which was behind his father's desk, his most prized one Adrien knew: it was a painting of his mother.

Squaring his shoulders and schooling his expression into a neutral one, Adrien took a seat in front of his father's large mahogany desk, "Father," he said by a way of greeting, voice devoid of much emotion.

His father's eyes never left his computer screen and Adrien could see tabs and files reflected off his glasses, "Adrien," his voice was bland, impassive, as if Adrien were simply another passing client and not his son.

Gabriel Agreste moved his gaze from the screen, clearing his throat and turning his attention not to Adrien but to his schedule written in his planner, "Natalie informed me of your appointment at four. I believe Theo Barbot requested for a photo shooting with you,"

Finally, his father's steel grey eyes met his calmly, nearly disinteresting. Adrien wouldn't have even noticed he was talking to him were the man not directly looking at him.

Adrien cleared his throat and straightened his back, "Yes, he did." He watched his father look at something on his computer.

"Get ready, Natalie will pick you up and drive you to your destination, you have a short interview at five as far as I'm aware." His gaze shot toward Adrien again, "How come you've agreed to do an interview?"

"It's been a long time since I allowed any interviews, the press shouldn't assume I may be hiding something by refusing interviews all the time. Doing one now may be enough for them to leave me alone for a few weeks," it astounded Adrien how his own voice and demeanor changed whenever he entered his father's office.

He very much turned into the man his father had become since the disappearance of his mother; cold, stoic, professional, _distanced_.

Gabriel nodded approvingly, lacing his fingers together on top of his desk, "Very well. I trust you are aware how to word your answers and reject any uncomfortable questions politely," Adrien nodded absentmindedly, flexing his wrists. Gabriel's eyes darted calmly to Adrien's hand, having noticed the sudden glint the slivers of sunlight caught peeking through the curtains, "I never noticed you to be wearing any jewelry," his gaze narrowed, "Particularly a ring,"

Adrien self-consciously covered his hand but forced his fingers to remain on his leg soon after, exposing the simple silver ring.

He wouldn't cower and hide, not from his father. Instead Adrien gathered his courage for what he was about to say, "I believe that is not the only thing you failed to notice, father,"

Adrien decided against showing emotions, because showing emotions was perceived as weak and wouldn't have the same impact. Adrien was known to be more emotional than his father, but countering his father's passiveness with his own neutral countenance seemed to have an even greater impact.

Tense seconds passed for Gabriel to process Adrien's exact words and their meaning, another second before he opened his mouth to retort and then the door opened with a quick, polite knock.

It was Natalie.

"Sir." She nodded respectfully towards her superior before acknowledging his son, "Adrien, we should go," she nodded toward the blond model and Adrien sighed, chancing a glance at his father's expression.

For a split second, he could have sworn he saw a flicker of surprise flash through his eyes until they returned to be the same dull ones he had gotten used to over the few years he had become that way since he was fifteen.

The door closed once again and Gabriel's office was silent.

The man crossed his hands over his desk, resting his forehead on top of them until he pushed his chair back and stood up.

His gaze first landed on the portrait taken not two years ago with Adrien beside him. The background was a dull grey, as dominating color in his life now. He was staring professionally at the camera, but Adrien's gaze was elsewhere, face set into a scowl, a neutral expression more than anything.

He averted his gaze, ignoring the hollow feeling in his chest, to look at the captivating painting of his wife.

He stopped his hand from making contact with it, instead drawing it back to his side and settling against his desk once again. After straightening his tie and adjusting his chair, Gabriel's eyes scanned the next important fashion contract, thoughts about the ring all but forgotten but Adrien's words still faintly echoing at the back of his mind.

_I believe that is not the only thing you failed to notice, father._

Somehow, if that were possible, the silence in his office only grew louder.

* * *

" _Hey, you okay kid? I'm waiting for you in the room. I bought you those chocolate croissants, I ate one tho,"_

Adrien snorted softly at Plagg's text message, typing a quick reply into his phone as he briskly walked across the street.

 _"_ _I'm fine, I'm on my way to work. All you eat is cheese, I'm surprised you touched a croissant,"_

Adrien couldn't help adding a silly emoji at the end of his sentence, sending the text.

Not even two minutes passed when Plagg's reply came and Adrien stifled a laugh.

 _"_ _Very funny, sunshine. My diet may involve cheese, but I'm fair game to chocolate…in most cases,"_ Adrien smirked at the cat emoji Plagg sent him, rolling his eyes.

Plagg only ever ate sweets when Tikki was near or she herself was eating cookies and forced her grumpy boyfriend to eat with her.

Adrien still wasn't sure how such a sweet person like Tikki wound up with such a grumpy man like Plagg, but he was willing to bet all his money Plagg was absolutely smitten by her and acted very much like a lovesick kitten around her.

If only he had the stroke of luck to actually have physical proof in the form of photos.

Adrien rounded a corner into a narrow alleyway, walking up toward a dark door to the right.

Making sure he was well hidden by the diminishing light of day, Adrien first knocked then lightly ran his nails like claws against the door, making scratching noises.

A few seconds later, Adrien heard the door being unlocked and he stepped aside as it swung open, briskly entering it and locking it behind himself.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief when the warmth of his stuffy office washed over him, along with the pungent smell of camembert and Plagg's faint cologne.

He swore the man would be the death of him someday.

He was sure he would bring his stinky cheese to his funeral as well, even if it would be the cause of his untimely death.

As if sensing the direction his thoughts took him, Plagg's gaze narrowed suspiciously, "…What are you thinking about?" as he munched on the wretched delicacy.

Adrien rolled his stiff shoulders, hanging up his jacket on the coat rack near the door before slumping in his chair, "Just thinking how you would bring your camembert to my funeral even if it would be the thing that killed me in the first place,"

Plagg snorted loudly in disbelief, "Don't be ridiculous kid," he paused, taking a large bite out of the small cheese wheel, "Food can't kill anyone unless you ate tons of it and got food poisoning," he shrugged, a slow grin stretching over his lips.

Adrien realized with the way his friend's eyes were slanted, more akin to a feline's than anything else, his dark, messy hair and the suave smirk or daring grins his lips formed, he could look quite… _intimidating_. He was lean but tall and Adrien had a feeling like Plagg, ever the grumpy man he was, would physically fend off anyone coming between him and his precious camembert.

Shaking his head, Adrien sighed, grabbing his wrapped croissant from his desk and the closed cup of coffee. Briefly shooting his friend a dark look, Plagg rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, ' _no food and drinks in the VA room'_ ,"

Adrien's brief glare melted into a soft smile and he sighed, shaking his head, "Thanks, Plagg," he inclined his head toward the croissant and Plagg nodded. While Adrien was eating his croissant, Plagg noticed the rapid movements his leg was making, foot tapping against the floor, one hand was holding his croissant, while the other drummed its fingers against the desk in rapid, random movements.

Plagg watched the spectacle for several long minutes until his eyes almost crossed from moving so much and trying to follow Adrien's movements. He felt the nervous energy radiating from him all the way to his side, "Kid, chill. _Breathe_ ,"

Adrien's eyes darted quickly toward his friend, swallowing the last bits of his croissant before downing nearly the entire cup of coffee, leg still moving up and down nervously at high speed.

It reminded Plagg of a nervous rabbit. Or kangaroo.

Adrien looked at him then, a large grin stretching over his handsome features suddenly, it caught Plagg off guard for a moment.

Usually, Adrien was careful about openly showing such genuine or strong emotions, in part due to his career as a model. This…was certainly new.

"Plagg, how _can_ I?" green eyes lighted up in excitement, "I made a _friend_! And she doesn't know who I am!" Adrien looked like a large, stuffed vibrating toy. His whole body seemed like it buzzed on electricity and Plagg shot forward to firmly keep his legs from suddenly rocketing off the floor and into the sky. After making sure Adrien was semi-calm, he returned to his seat and watched his friend with a long stare.

Plagg snorted softly, "Ya know, most people would be worried or at least offended over that fact," he snatched a smaller piece of camembert from beside his computer, nibbling on it.

Adrien rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, most people don't try to hide their career,"

His friend sighed, "I still think she wouldn't fangirl over you…too hard. I mean, pigtails girl doesn't strike me as the type to focus on appearances and all," he rubbed his chin, thinking, "Come to think of it, she looks kind of familiar,"

Adrien paused, face scrunched up in thought, "You're right. I thought I saw her somewhere before but I don't know where," he shrugged after a moment, "Well, whatever. I hope she can come today too! I mean, she said she would come, right? That means she _will_ come. I hope nobody will request for Chat Noir when she comes, that would be inconvenient," he scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Plagg watched with no small amount of amusement how Adrien fussed over the upcoming evening today.

"Already a date and you don't even know her name. Shame on you Adrien Agreste," Plagg released a sharp bark of laughter, holding his stomach.

Adrien hissed quietly, hanging his head, "Shh, Plagg! Not so loud! Someone might hear!"

The raven-haired man waved him off, "The door's thick, besides even if someone hears, they can't tell what we are talking about." He shrugged nonchalantly, "And I still can't believe you called the toy Chat Noir…"

Adrien pouted, crossing his arms like an offended child, "Hey, what's so bad about Chat Noir? I think the name is cool, it has a nice ring to it," he smiled to himself.

Plagg snorted, "Says the guy who gets flirting help from video games and cartoons for kids,"

Adrien frowned, "It's _not_ cartoon for kids Plagg, it's called _mangas_ and _animes_. You just won't admit I can flirt better than you," he smirked.

Plagg blinked slowly, fixing him with a look, "….I have a girlfriend,"

Adrien's eyes widened, as if that small detail went over his head, before he spluttered, and his cheeks grew red in embarrassment, "Damn it, Plagg!"

The man cackled with laughter, ducking the piece of paper flying for his head.

Adrien shook his head, lightly punching his friend on the shoulder as he passed him, gently knocking on the door.

Pierre pocked his head in a minute later, "What is it?"

Adrien dug into his pocket and fished out the bracelet, holding it out to Pierre, "Can you wrap this around Chat-I uh, I mean the cat toy's paw? W-when the woman comes in, you know ah, from before, from yesterday? The one with blue eyes and hair?" Adrien grinned sheepishly.

Pierre's face melted into a smile, taking the offered jewelry, "Of course, _monsieur,_ anything else?"

Adrien looked around, cupping a hand over his mouth, "When is dinner ready? I think Plagg will eat half of the VA room by the end of this evening,"

Pierre chuckled and Plagg's voice rang out from behind the door, " _I heard that!"_

"Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes." Pierre this time looked around, before producing a small wheel of camembert from his pocket, "Here, feed him this, maybe he will take this as sacrificial offering,"

Again, Plagg's voice roared over the sound of the bustling noises outside, " _I'm not some dragon! Hell I can hear you dimwits!"_

Adrien grinned, taking the offered smelly cheese, "Thanks Pierre," he winked before quickly closing the door.

Despite Plagg's earlier claim, he was eager to take the offered piece of cheese from his friend, "…If he plans on giving me more cheese like this, I don't mind turning into a dragon,"

With a happy smile, Plagg dug in.

Adrien rolled his eyes, digging into his bag for his book on physics to pass the time until someone requested Chat Noir tonight.

He didn't know how very soon that would be.

* * *

Marinette felt nervous, bubbly, excited and terrified all at once.

She wasn't sure how different tonight would be.

She wasn't sure how she should act or _react_.

And she wasn't sure about her new table companion, which she learned could actually talk, or the person behind the toy actually outed himself to her.

She didn't know what to do with this information _at all_.

Marinette shook her head suddenly, clutching her bag.

This was utterly ridiculous.

She was a grown woman.

She could do this.

She could talk to a stuffed toy.

…She _could_.

Resisting the instinct to run, Marinette slowly entered the restaurant, clumsily avoiding bumping into a couple entering just behind her. Quickly commanding her feet to function properly, Marinette forced herself to move forward.

She found her original table empty and smiled at Pierre, who smiled in return and followed her toward the table, offering her the menu with a bow and a polite greeting.

Marinette offered the same sentiments, eyes skimming over the menu.

She wasn't sure what to pick, so she settled for ordering something to drink first. With her order made, Pierre vanished.

Marinette sighed, setting her bag aside and looking around at the place she was sure she would be frequenting often from now on, not only because of the good food and fair prices.

The decorations were warm and nice, cozy enough for families and children to feel at home, soft music playing in the background creating a soothing atmosphere for the stressed-out patrons coming here for a relaxing meal.

The color scheme reminded her slightly of how Chinese restaurants were designed, incorporating red, orange and other warmer colors, as well as accents in gold here and there. Plants were lining the windows to the side, on the larger tables there were flowers too.

She supposed she didn't need a flower since she would have her stuffy companion anyway.

Flushing in embarrassment at her chilidsh thoughts at being excited about seeing a mere _toy_ , Marinette took a deep breath and flexed her sweaty fingers, trying to relax.

In truth, this wasn't just about a toy.

 _That_ was the problem.

She had spoken to the _person_ behind the toy.

It made her feel nervous but eager to start talking to that person today too. It made her feel slightly apprehensive since she had no idea what the person even looked like, what sort of person it was.

She was sure the restaurant took great care in not employing some random people off the street with dubious backgrounds, but she couldn't help but feel vulnerable and exposed.

She would be the one talking to the toy and the person on the other side could clearly see her and maybe even base some of her personality traits based off her appearance while she could not. She always felt it was personal when you could talk to someone face to face, seeing the expressions the person made while talking, seeing the emotions playing on their faces and reflected off their body language.

It made her slightly nervous knowing she couldn't see any of that while talking to Chat Noir.

But maybe the man, the person behind Chat Noir was just as nervous as she.

She was quite certain he had never revealed to anyone else who he was, or at least hadn't spoken out of his scripted lines like he had with her.

Maybe she wasn't alone in her state of nervousness.

Marinette smiled when the waiter returned with her glass of water, thanking him and finally deciding on what to eat for today, a traditional Asian dish that reminded her slightly of her mother's home.

Pierre left briskly and shortly after, he was carrying the familiar stuffed cat in his arms towards her.

This was it.

Marinette took a subtle breath, dug her nails in the material of her pants and waited stock still while Pierre adjusted Chat Noir on the chair before he disappeared.

She hadn't said a word yet and the seconds were ticking by.

Thankfully, she wouldn't need to, for Chat Noir spoke in his slightly computer distorted voice, " _Good evening purrincess!"_

Marinette smiled, stifling a giggle, "Good evening Chat Noir," she looked at the sleek black fur and the large, cat-like eyes of his, a deep green.

" _How is the purrincess faring on this fine night?"_ Chat Noir sounded chirpy, excited even and that in turn fed her own nervous energy which began t slowly convert to excitement.

"I-I'm fine thanks. W-what about you?" her eyes briefly darted around to other customers, but none were paying her any mind.

Chat Noir spoke again, " _I'm feline good princess! And before I forget, I have something for you!"_

Marinette's face scrunched up in confusion, eyes scanning the toy for any hidden items until her gaze rested on it's front right paw.

It was her bracelet.

Marinette rose from her seat and leaned forward over the table, sliding her bracelet off the paw easily, "My bracelet! How did you get it? I was searching for it everywhere yesterday!" she smiled happily, quickly strapping in onto her wrist securely.

Chat Noir laughed, a mixture of a man's laughter and a computer, " _My cat senses seemed to have picked it up yesterday, but you already left. It's a good thing you came back,"_

Marinette giggled, smiling, "Well, I did say we would meet again, right kitty?" she smiled brightly.

There was a brief pause, before Chat spoke again, " _Right princess! Hmm, let's see, how about we play a game? A guessing game! And you'll have to guess!"_

The designer and seamstress smirked, eyebrow shooting up questioningly, "Really Chat? A guessing game? Well…I guess until my order arrives," she shrugged. What harm could be in that?

She thought they would be playing something along the lines of guessing the name of a city upon clues or something similar, but he completely caught her off guard when he said this, " _Alright, purrincess. Now, what do you call a pile of kittens?"_

Blinking slowly, Marinette processed the words, spotting the cat puns in it.

And then, she laughed.

Truly, happily _laughed._

Chat's voice broke her from her reverie, " _D-did I say something wrong princess?"_

She still couldn't figure out why he called her princess and milady, but she would in time. Maybe she could ask him that today too. For now, she just shook her head and smiled, "No, no, I'm sorry Chat it's just-" she giggled behind her hand, "I didn't expect that question, you just caught me off guard – in a good way,"

She heard the chuckle coming from the cat and smiled.

She rubbed her chin, thinking for a second, "Hmm, a _meowting?_ "

She could practically feel him beaming, " _Purrfect, princess! Alright, now what do you call when a cat is bored and is doing nothing instead of doing their homework or studying?"_

Marinette grinned, easily finding the answer to that one, " _Procatstinating?"_

" _Clawsome princess! Correct!"_

Marinette laughed.


	4. The Princess' Name

 

* * *

_~ **The Princess' Name** ~_

* * *

He watched her leave the restaurant with a small smile on her face and the grin on his own one grew.

"A friend…" Adrien propped both his elbows on his desk and sighed languidly, "She laughed at my puns Plagg…"

The dark-haired man shot a disturbed look at the younger male, before examining his nails, "Uh-huh,"

"Is this the way all people feel when they have a friend who laughs at their puns?" Adrien's dreamy expression made Plagg nauseous.

Plagg rolled his eyes, "Yeah if all people sprouted the puns you did, sure,"

Adrien, completely unaffected by Plagg's insensitive and dry jokes, sighed again almost dreamily, "I listened how her day was, she told me how she sometimes accidentally cuts her finger while sewing, or how she tripped down a flight of stairs because her friend surprised her," he chuckled, "She's actually pretty funny,"

Plagg rose an eyebrow, suddenly mildly interested, "Oh?" he snickered, "Do I detect a hint of… _romance?_ " he grinned widely, like the devil.

Adrien turned around calmly and tilted his head to the side, "Huh? No why? She's just a friend," he shrugged.

Plagg's deadpan look made Adrien blink and the raven haired man whirled away from him, "Forget it," Adrien rose an eyebrow at his friend's behavior but shrugged and glued his eyes back to the computer screen.

And suddenly, he jumped.

"Plagg, I have an idea," he whirled around on his chair to face his partner, who put his own headset down on the desk.

Toxic green eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Lord help me through this,"

"No, no, no it's a _really_ good idea," Adrien grinned.

"Hold that thought. Let me call my insurance company to see if they cover whatever dangers your "great idea" entails," Plagg lazily swiped through his phone.

Adrien rolled his eyes but didn't miss a beat, already used to his friend's antics, "Listen, do you think " _Well, purrincess you've cat to be kitten me, I nearly went catatonic!"_ is a really good joke? After all, it has four pu-ow!" Adrien rubbed his head, glaring at his friend, "What was that for Plagg? That hurt,"

"I need more money for this," Plagg sighed, moving away from the young man after having whacked him on the head, "I don't know how the ladies like your awful puns, but I want to strangle you after our recording sessions,"

Adrien pouted, crossing his arms to mirror Plagg's stance, "Looks like the student surpassed his master, isn't that right, Plagg?" Adrien had the sneakiest grin Plagg ever saw on the boy, because of that alone he was sure he did have at least _some_ influence over the boy in the years they've known each-other.

"Shut up," the grumpy man hissed, fishing in his bag for his special treat.

Adrien blanched, "Seriously, how can you _not_ be sick after eating so much cheese? I bet my nutritionist would consider you insane,"

Plagg answered him with a stony stare, "I bet I would consider your _nutritionist_ insane," he drawled, popping the small piece of cheese like a tart in his mouth, "Seriously, having the life of a model must be hell. You don't get to eat any cheese!"

Adrien rolled his eyes, "Plagg, I _do_ eat cheese…on specific days and in small quantities,"

Plagg slapped a hand to his face in frustration.

* * *

Marinette felt infinitely better after leaving the restaurant.

Her talk with Chat Noir certainly attested to it.

She sighed, giggling when she remembered his cat puns during their conversation. She had to admit, at times they were simply awful, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that, not when she noticed he tried everything to cheer her up and make her laugh.

Still, Alya's words lingered in the back of her mind.

… _I would appreciate it if you would make goo goo eyes at a real man than some old, fat and ugly guy probably stuck in some cramped space doing all these recordings for those stuffed animals…_

Marinette sighed, looking down at the bracelet now securely wrapped around her wrist. She smiled faintly, thinking how surprised and touched she felt when Chat Noir admitted he found it and brought it back to her.

She liked to think of herself as a good judge of character, and so far, Chat Noir never gave any indication that she should be wary of him. Granted, they _had_ met like two times, but _still_.

" _He seems nice, and some of his jokes are really funny,"_ she giggled, " _He also listens to me rambling on about my day, that counts for something, right?"_ with newfound security, Marinette decided it then and there.

She saw no harm in nursing a casual friendship with someone she wouldn't _personally_ meet, as long as none of them revealed too sensitive information to each-other, she was sure she wouldn't get attached or too hung up over anything.

Not that she could, _god_ , she didn't even know how he _looked like!_

_And she forgot to ask for his age!_

Marinette groaned and slapped her hand against her forehead, until the buzzing in her purse alerted her of a call.

Quickly flipping her phone open, Marinette's heart sped up nervously when she saw it was Nathaniel that was calling her.

Taking a deep, _deep_ breath, Marinette pressed accept and answered the call.

"Hi Nath…"

* * *

Nathaniel's hands kept sweating until his phone nearly slipped out of his vice-like grip and he scrambled to catch it in mid-air, heart racing a mile a minute.

This was it.

He would call Marinette.

Schedule a new meeting for their final fashion discussion for the upcoming show.

Maybe even organize a friendly date after it.

Nathaniel sighed, pressing his phone to his chest.

It's been…well over six years. Sure, they've grown from awkward classmates and nostalgic strangers to good friends and even better colleagues at work, but he also knew Marinette never liked him back in college.

He would be a fool to think it was different now.

Of course, they were now adults, he wasn't quite the awkward teenager anymore and she wasn't the shy, clumsy girl she used to be…that much.

But whenever she would say or do something that was just…that was just… _so_ Marinette, then his heart would give off those breath-stopping mini heart attacks and his cheeks would have the same color as his hair.

For the longest time, he actually thought his hair had been the problem.

After all, how many boys had naturally red hair?

Not handsome models, they didn't.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his thick, red hair. He remembered in his later teenage years, right before they graduated from college, he had dyed his hair black.

Well…he didn't really get the kind of attention he thought he would. Marinette had been… _surprised_ to say the least. Then, his two best friends, Juleka and Rose, had unabashedly told him how he looked like an emo and that sure as hell wouldn't catch Marinette's attention.

He had tried viciously scrubbing the color out of his hair after that for weeks.

In the end, it thankfully washed out before the group graduation photo was taken, but he swore the tips of his hair had remained a purplish color on the photo.

If he had painted his skin purple and drawn black markings around his eyes and worn a costume, he would have looked like his superhero form.

Or at least the figure illustrated in nearly every of his private sketchbooks set up in his room.

He had one whole sketchbook dedicated to "SuperNathan" saving Marinette from all kinds of trouble in Paris.

Another one was purely dedicated to all the possible romantic scenarios and dates his superhero-self had with Marinette.

One was filled with his newer designs, depicting their more adult versions. Sometimes some of their scenarios weren't all that… _innocent._

Flushing brightly, Nathaniel clumsily dialed Marinette's number, cursing silently when he mistyped a number or two due to his shaking fingers.

Marinette's face smiled up at him from his contacts.

This was it.

Taking a deep breath and mentally praying he wouldn't need to organize his own funeral too soon, Nathaniel finally clicked _"Call"._

 _"_ _Hi Nath…"_ Marinette's calm, sweet voice reached his ears and Nathaniel kicked himself to answer.

"Hi Marinette," _Yes! Without stuttering!_

 _"_ _What's up?"_ wait, wasn't _he_ supposed to ask that first since he called?

Shaking his head, Nathaniel swallowed, "Nothing special, just uh, drawing some designs," his stomach did a few somersaults, no where near as bad as they used to be in college, but they still made him feel jumpy and nervous.

Marinette giggled and he melted at the sound, " _Always the busy artist, I see,"_

He chuckled, the constricting tension he felt in his chest finally easing a little, "Yeah…Listen, is it okay if I ask you something?" he scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit he never could quite get rid of.

Short seconds ticked by and Nathaniel held his breath for her answer, " _Sure,"_

Clearing his throat, his eyes glanced at his calendar, "I wanted to ask when you would be available for that meeting we still need to have before the fashion show."

_Please don't reject me, please don't reject me, please don't-_

" _Right! How about we meet this upcoming Monday? We'll see each-other at work anyway and we could look it over while we are on break and if we have something left we could just stay longer,"_ she sounded happy, content. Not annoyed or pressured or anxious.

That was good.

That was _great._

 _Maybe_ he could finally prove he wasn't the awkward, shy kid he used to be, maybe Marinette would fall for his beyond being the "busy artist" and "really good friend".

Maybe if he would take her on a tour through the Louvre and see how knowledgeable he was about the paintings, maybe she would see him in a new light? Maybe then they could go to a nice restaurant and eat together and he would make her laugh and happy and _maybe_ -

" _Nath? Helloo, earth to Nathaniel,"_ Marinette's sing-song voice rang in his ear and Nathaniel jumped as if burned.

His back straightened almost painfully as he clutched at his phone like his life depended on it, "Y-Yes, that sounds lovely! I-I mean great, that sounds great!" he chuckled, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

_I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot-_

Marinette laughed and all his fears vaporated in an instant and he felt a bit of his fragile confidence come back, " _Great! I'm looking forward to it Nath! I guess, we'll see each-other then?"_ her hopeful tone made him giddy.

"Yeah, definitely," he mentally patted himself on the shoulder. He sounded confident, that was good.

" _Great! See you then Nath, good night!"_ he felt almost disappointed that their conversation had to end, but it was late and he was sure she was tired.

His voice softened, lips curled in a shy smile, "Good night Marinette,"

With that, she ended the call.

He stood rooted to the spot in the middle of his living room, before he jumped in the air and cheered, throwing his phone on his couch and cheering like a mad teenager.

Nathaniel threw himself on,what he mistakenly forgot was _not_ his bed, his couch, his tall frame too big for the smaller couch and he spectacularly fell off it and to the ground in a groaning heap.

…. _Maybe_ he didn't quite outgrow his awkward teenager years just yet…

* * *

Adrien helped lift the chairs onto the tables alongside Pierre and the other restaurant staff, while Plagg sweeped the floor.

"Why do _I_ always have to clean?" the tall man grumbled and Adrien smirked.

"Because you're the pig that leaves the VA room in a complete mess," he chuckled when Plagg gave him the finger.

Pierre smiled as he continued to lift and flip the chairs over on the tables, "So, how was your day today?" he looked pointedly at Adrien.

The young model smiled, "It was good, did some recordings and such," he shrugged, "The usual, I guess;"

Pierre rose an eyebrow and smiled secretively, "I see…" he lifted another chair, "I always found it odd how the mademoiselle with the blue eyes enjoyed the black cat's company so much, despite the repetitive recordings,"

He smirked when Adrien stiffened like a board and faltered at lifting another chair into the air, "Uh, well, I guess my scripted puns just really amuse her?"

Pierre smiled, " _How about we play a game? A guessing game? And you'll have to guess!"_ Adrien's eyes widened when he recognized the words, _his own words_ , " _Call me…Chat Noir,"_ the last words Pierre said with such dramatic flair and a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows that made Adrien blush in embarrassment and cover his face.

"…How did you _know_? I always switched to my original lines when you came!"

Just then, Plagg shouted from the other end of the room, "HA! Tell him Pierre! You found the name 'Chat Noir' lame too, right?!"

Ignoring the cackling man behind them, Pierre sent Adrien a calm smile, "This butler may be old, but my ears do fulfill their purpose quite well still," he winked and Adrien grinned sheepishly.

Then, he hung his head sadly, "…Does…does this mean I'm prohibited from talking to her? Or…working as a VA at all, anymore?"

When he thought worst would come to worst, Pierre surprised him by clasping a hand on his shoulder and giving him an encouraging smile, "As long as you promise not to do that to every guest and protect your identity, I have not seen or heard anything at all," he made a show of locking his lips shut and throwing the key in his pocket.

Adrien lifted his head and beamed, Pierre nodded encouragingly and stumbled slightly when the younger man suddenly hugged him, "Oh thank you Pierre! I promise I'll be careful!" he released the older man from the hug and he chuckled.

A thought occurred to Adrien, "Say Pierre….did she ever reserve a seat here?"

The butler rose an eyebrow, "I believe not, not yet. Why do you ask?"

Adrien deflated, "Uh…no reason,"

He turned back to lifting and flipping the chairs on the tables, before Pierre smiled and said loud enough for Adrien to hear, "The woman with the blue eyes never made any reservations here, but I do know a certain mademoiselle Cesaire has and I happen to know them to be very close friends. Mademoiselle Cesaire also happens to be very talkative about her best friend, _Marinette_ as far as I know,"

The old butler left the youth to contemplate his words and he grinned when he heard him shout out in joy.

Adrien nearly jumped on the spot, feeling ecstatic.

"Plagg! I-"

The man hissed, "Yes, yes, I know, I know! _'Plagg! I made a friend!'_ blah, blah, blah,"

Adrien glared at his friend, "No! I finally know her name!"

He leaned on one of the upturned chairs, sighing dreamily.

" _Marinette, huh…"_ he grinned. She had a nice name, rolled off his tongue smoothly.

Adrien sighed, " _Tomorrow's a new day. Maybe she'll come tomorrow too, this woman, Marinette,"_

Adrien grinned.


	5. Through Feline Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTICE: AGES FOR Adrien: 26 years old, Marinette: 25 years old.

 

* * *

 _~ **Through Feline Eyes**_ ~

* * *

_Previously on "Dinner for Two"…_

_Adrien nearly jumped on the spot, feeling ecstatic._

_"_ _Plagg! I-"_

_The man hissed, "Yes, yes, I know, I know! 'Plagg! I made a friend!' blah, blah, blah,"_

_Adrien glared at his friend, "No! I finally know her name!"_

_He leaned on one of the upturned chairs, sighing dreamily._

_"_ _Marinette, huh…" he grinned. She had a nice name, rolled off his tongue smoothly._

_Adrien sighed, "Tomorrow's a new day. Maybe she'll come tomorrow too, this woman, Marinette,"_

_Adrien grinned._

He once read somewhere that many things could be found out about a person by the way they ate.

Adrien could say he spent a fair amount of time watching people eat, not only his co-workers but also the customers in the restaurant in his time off after modelling. He also found out not many people would take note of all the little things one did during dinner.

Some people ate quickly, as if time and responsibilities rushed them and they only ate out of a basic bodily need, an annoying necessity they couldn't but would like to, ignore. Some ate messily, eating with their mouth wide open or spilling bits and pieces of food out of their plate, on the wall beside them, the tablecloth or on themselves, they had uncoordinated, chaotic lives with no set schedule.

Some ate rigidly, always available on the phone, for those, abandoning their plate while still unfinished was a small price to pay if it meant pleasing their boss, but for those that couldn't afford food – it was adding salt to a wound. Some ate with a disinterested, bored expression, as if forcing themselves to eat simply not to starve, but finding no real joy in food in itself. Those, Adrien always pitied, because they would forever miss the wonders how a good meal can make them feel and brighten their entire day.

And others, those Adrien liked the most, ate with passion and incorporated their whole body into conveying how they felt. They would close their eyes in bliss and let out a little hum or moan, their fingers would tap gently against the table in anticipation of their food, they would smile when looking over the menu, they would stare at the waiter that brought them their food in awe and gratitude for giving them a small piece of heaven on a plate, they would ask the waiter to profusely thank the chef for his effort into making a delicious meal. They would be _thankful,_ and they would _come back_ just to smile and eat and thank the chef again.

Those Adrien liked best, simply because there weren't many of them. Most people were too caught up in their everyday lives and work to worry about all those 'little things'. Little things that, when put together, made a big part of their daily lives.

In his profession, enjoying food wasn't a common sight.

The strict nutritional rules set for models had improved over the years, but Adrien would always say there was plenty of room for improvement.

 _If_ his colleagues ate at all, they rarely enjoyed it.

He was a happy exception, most of the time.

But when his colleagues did eat, it was in small, measured bites. A small portion of food filling their spacious plate, they chewed fast, not bothering to let the taste register on their tongue, needing to hurry off to another photoshoot or interview. Not appreciating the gift of food, of _good_ food, that they could _afford_ to eat. They had more than enough money to not worry about such matters. But Adrien thought them important nonetheless, despite his wealth.

It was partly a reason why he chose the 'mundane' job as a voice actor in a small, cramped space located in a restaurant with a low wage. To experience, to _see_ the joy and awe and appreciation spread on people's faces when they eat good food and be thankful for it.

Adrien smiled.

"More to the right, yes, yes that's it! Still!" flashes came in rapid succession and it was only due to long years of practice that Adrien's eyes remained perfectly unmoving, long having grown resistant to the urge to blink when the bright camera flashes hit his eyes, his smile still carefully in place.

"Yes! _Yes! Flair! Drama!_ Show me the bad boy that is buried deep within!" the overenthusiastic photographer was one of the more likeable ones for Adrien, purely because Adrien got away with a few more silly expressions and because the man had odd urges for flair and dramatics.

Like now.

"That's it! That's it Adrien! Show me that smoldering gaze!" Adrien resisted the urge to laugh, instead slanting his eyes more, like Plagg, and curling his lips into a small smirk and the cameras went wild again, "Yes, yes! Wonderful! _Merci!"_

"Alphonse, could we take a short break?" Adrien was beginning to sweat and unless he wanted to ruin his make-up, he would need to take a short break to cool off from the heat of the overhead lights beating upon him.

The photographer, who had known Adrien since he first started modeling as a young teenager, straightened from his crouched position on the ground and nodded, taking off his camera and settling on a stool to drink, " _Oui, oui,_ Adrien, take a seat," he gestured for the model to sit, which Adrien was grateful for.

Alphonse was also one of fewer photographers who were more lenient toward their models, the man had modeled himself years ago, so he knew the stress models were put through and tried to minimize it to the best of his abilities.

The man was in his early fifties but looked much younger, with slicked back black hair with a few grey hairs in the front and sides, making him look more stylish than old. Alphonse was a man of a classic but casual sense of style, never allowing modern media to influence his outfits, despite being a renowned photographer working for the Agrestes. Adrien vaguely remembered him being an old friend of his mother's, he was the only one who was allowed gentle jabs at his father without immediately being thrown out.

His father's patience seemed to stretch whenever Alphonse was in his vicinity, whether it was for the fact that the man rarely let himself be intimidated by his father's wealth and power or because he had seen his father in the past, the happier, more approachable side that caused him to not fear him now.

Adrien paused, looking over at the man thoughtfully, "Alphonse," the man in question turned his head toward him, hazel eyes meeting green, "Was…did…" he cleared his throat, "Had father really been…that different before…" he didn't finish his sentence, but Alphonse seemed to understand the unspoken words nonetheless.

The lithe man leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand over the small, trimmed beard on his chin, "Well, he has always had a keen eye for fashion and was and always will be a perfectionist when it comes to his line of work, as I'm sure you can imagine," he chuckled, offering Adrien an easy going grin, "What brings the sudden question? You've known your father longer than I have," he chuckled and Adrien smiled tightly.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Yes, but…sometimes I forget," his tone lowered, "…what he was like back then,"

A frown settled on Aphonse's defined features and the man clasped his hands in his lap, over his precious camera, "You know, Adrien," the blond lifted his head, "Certain events can change people very much," he looked over at him and his expression melted into a calm, friendly smile, "But other certain events can change them just as much, if not more," he laid a hand on Adrien's shoulder to squeeze it briefly before standing up again, camera securely in hand, "Now, for the _finale!_ I want to see those tresses flying my boy!"

Adrien chuckled and shook his head, jumping to his feet to finish up the shoot before going to his other job.

* * *

"Do you think she will hit him?" Rose whispered anxiously to her best friend, who rose an eyebrow at the question.

"…Why would she do that? They're friends and colleagues, Rose," Juleka nonetheless shot a quick glance toward what they dubbed 'the art corner', plastered with sketches of various clothing articles and colored designs, Nathaniel and Marinette leaning over their most recent project.

Rose fidgeted nervously, "I don't _know_ , Marinette's been so stressed because of the upcoming fashion event! And they canceled their original meeting!"

Juleka frowned, "But they're discussing things now, I'm sure it's alright," she cringed, "…I think," both females looked back toward their superiors who seemed to be in a discussion.

The redhead mustered the finished sketch of the dress critically, "Are you sure green would go with this dress? We would need to make sure it fits to the model's physical features to not make it clash with any mismatching colors," Nathaniel frowned, biting the end of his pencil, "…I would say lime green,"

Marinette interjected calmly, "Mint," she pointed to the floral pattern running along the waistline, "It looks better when the light hits it from the projectors, lime would blend in too much and the floral patterns would not be highlighted well enough," the redhead nodded, jotting down a quick note next to the sketch of the dress.

"We have the fabric in stock, think you can make one by tomorrow? All the others are finished," Nathaniel's gaze scanned over his own schedule, muttering a low curse, "I'm sorry, I have that art class in the afternoon, I can come at around nine and help you then," his apologetic eyes were met with her understanding blue ones.

While Nathaniel was anything but a designer like Marinette, he could assist her by holding up her work for her to muster critically or make her coffee to get through the night aside from keeping her company.

Marinette smiled, patting his hand reassuringly, "Don't worry Nath, I can handle it," she turned around to look over her finished sketch of the dress, failing t notice the pink face behind her and the way the dreamy smile stretched over his lips, "Besides, your students need you, don't they? I doubt they can figure out a painting and all its hidden depths and emotions without their master artist teacher with them," she giggled, sending him a playful wink over her shoulder.

Nathaniel's heart stopped.

He nearly choked on his spit, before coughing into his fist, "Uhm, w-well, they, yes maybe y-you're right," he tugged at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably, fighting down a smile and the scarlet red blush that overtook his entire face.

Rose sighed from behind them, "I wonder how he handles being a professor at the university, with his shyness and all,"

Juleka shrugged, "Maybe we should check it out sometime, see how our tomato is doing," she smiled when Rose grinned excitedly.

Rose giggled, grabbing Juleka's arm, "But first!" the woman's eyes shone mischievously, "Time for coffee break! _Marinette!_ "

* * *

"Dude, you need a break too, ya know? Can't believe the old man let's you work so hard, he knows you got the thing with your degree going," the dark-skinned man stuffed his hands in his pockets, frowning at his friend worriedly.

Adrien smiled wearily, pulling his dark coat closer to his neck when a few passerby's shot him suspicious looks, "Don't worry Nino, it's fine. My degree can wait, but the upcoming fashion shoots can't," he shrugged helplessly, smiling, "Besides, it's been so long since we met again after Dupont, let's talk about something else," he nudged him with his shoulder, "I heard of a DJ prodigy causing trouble at the local night clubs lately, that wouldn't happen to be you, would it?" Adrien grinned playfully.

Nino laughed, shoving his friend lightly, "Please, night clubs? Nah, I don't do that anymore dude, I actually got a few contracts with a few big shots, but nothing's really official. 'Sides, Alya's got that blog of hers running and it's getting me pretty sweet followers to boost my growing fame," he chuckled, a fond look on his face.

Adrien's eyes widened.

Wait…

"Wait, Alya? Who's that?" he rose an eyebrow at the familiar name. Where had he heard that before? He _swore_ he heard that name from somewhere!

Nino suddenly looked bashful, scratching the back of his neck, a large grin on his face, "Ah, ya see, Alya's my girlfriend. We uh, got together over like a year ago."

Surprise visibly overtook Adrien's features and the model released a thoughtful hum, "Oh…I had no idea. Wow, what's she like?"

An image of his girlfriend appeared in his mind and Nino smiled like a fool, nearly failing to move out of the way of an older woman on crutches, "She's awesome, you'd love her. She's really passionate about her work, she just _has_ to get every scoop of the day _and_ she would go to any length to get it, nothing can stop her when she sets her mind to it. She's funny and she's got that temper, but like, not bad, I mean, she knows what she wants you know? She's also really smart, give her a mystery and she would solve it in no time at all. Dude and those _hips-"_

Adrien laughed nervously, "Uh, right, I get it Nino," he patted his overenthusiastic friend on the back, "She sounds great, I'd love to meet her sometime," Adrien smiled genuinely at his old friend and Nino smiled back, chuckling.

"Yeah, sorry dude, guess I went a bit overboard there, huh?" Nino cleared his throat, grinning bashfully as they continued walking down the pavement, "So, any lucky girl on your side? Haven't heard anything in the press,"

Adrien smirked at Nino's teasing and shook his head, "No, with how busy my schedule is and everything, how can I?" Nino playfully punched him in the shoulder.

" _Dude_ , are you serious? You're a _model_ -"

Adrien interjected, "-part-time model,"

"-who works with _other_ stunning models,"

Adrien sighed, "-with _colleagues_ Nino," he smiled at his friend.

Nino ran his hands over his face, " _Dude_ , you have to be kidding me! I mean, I got really lucky cuz I got Alya but…but… _DUDE!"_

Adrien laughed at Nino's agonized expression, shaking his head, "It's alright Nino, it's not like I'm looking for a relationship,"

Nino shot him a look, "Look dude, I know we didn't see each-other since Dupont and everything, but ya can't tell me that you don't at least _like_ a single woman out there!" the DJ looked exasperated, as if he couldn't believe somebody like Adrien still didn't have a girlfriend.

Adrien thought for a moment and completely suddenly, the image of a dark-haired, pig-tailed woman with bright blue eyes and a warm smile appeared in his mind.

Adrien smiled and Nino rose an eyebrow curiously at his friend's expression, "Well…" he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck bashfully, "I guess you could say I like one," he grinned, laughing at the stupefied look on Nino's face, before the two men entered a little bakery nearby.

* * *

"You got that smile on your face again, kid," smug, green eyes zeroed in on his younger partner.

Adrien looked at Plagg curiously, "Huh? What smile?"

The dark-haired male smirked, "The lovesick puppy smile," Adrien suddenly made a sound that was reminiscent of a cat hissing and Plagg grinned, "- _kitten,"_

Adrien growled, " _Plagg_ , enough with the cat puns!" he sighed, swiveling around in his chair, "Besides, I'm not in love."

Plagg rolled his eyes, " _Pawlease_ , you've been lovestruck since you started talking to pig-tails girl,"

"Her _name_ is Marinette," for some reason, it felt nice saying her name and Adrien has been saying it mentally on every opportunity he got.

Whenever he saw a restaurant. Marinette.

Whenever he saw a woman with pigtails. Marinette.

Whenever he spotted a bright blue color, he thought of her eyes. _Marinette's_ eyes.

Shit, Plagg was looking at him again, "What?" for some reason, Adrien felt defensive, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

Plagg grinned widely like the cat that got the canary, "You got that lovesick smile again,"

In a fruitless effort to hide the heat in his cheeks and save some of his remaining dignity, Adrien swirled around in his chair to turn his back to his friend, intensely looking at the camera screens, "We have work to do Plagg,"

The other man rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You wait for pigtails girl and I'll kill some time with my _pawsome_ cheese puns,"

A small smile curled Adrien's lips and he couldn't help but feel like he was ready to soar when he saw a certain woman entering the restaurant.

She knew she was supposed to be working to continue on the dress, but she couldn't resist stopping by for a quick meal, after all, take-out food wasn't what it used to be and she could afford spending a few minutes eating before slaving over the dress.

Marinette smiled brightly at the elderly waiter, who politely bowed and greeted her, "Good evening mademoiselle, the same table I presume?" he smiled kindly.

Marinette smiled bashfully, "Yes, please," hands clasped over her bag in front of her, she followed the taller man toward her seat, which she dubbed as "her" seat.

It was the first time where she "met" Chat Noir.

And all the other times she had come here.

Idly, she wondered what Alya would say if she actually met Chat Noir like this. Would her friend still think she was talking to a perverted old man behind the toy?

Oh right!

Marinette gently slapped her cheeks, " _His age! I wanted to ask for his age!"_ she smiled when the waiter handed her the menu and she quickly settled for a simple chocolate croissant with hot chocolate.

Her stomach suddenly grumbled, and Marinette blushed uncomfortably as she tried to not sink through the floor in humiliation, "Uhm, m-make that two croissants please," she grinned sheepishly but her trusty waiter smiled kindly and left with her order.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, subtly poking her stomach in punishment for being so loud.

And then, she saw the big black cat toy being carried towards her from a different waiter.

Marinette braced herself but felt excited.

She wished she could tell if Chat Noir felt the same, or if he was happy to see her. The times she had been here and they had their little talks, they seemed to have gotten along well.

How many times had she been here already?

Six? Seven? Marinette shook her head and nodded at the waiter who settled Chat Noir on the stool, eyes quickly shooting toward the stuffed toy when he left.

Marinette looked left and right to see if any other customers glanced her way and she shyly lifted her hand to wave at her companion, "Hi kitty,"

The reply made her smile, " _Good evening purrincess,"_

Adrien smiled and moved near the microphone again, " _How are you feline today?"_

Marinette giggled, a fond smile on her face as she looked at Chat Noir, "Oh just _purrfect,"_


	6. A Sniff or Two

**FUN FACT:** Was it a fun fact? Good question…the title of this chapter alludes to cats (similarly to dogs) sniffing each-other to determine whether they like another feline or not, so this chapter could be where Marinette and Adrien do a little QA's with each-other. :)

* * *

**A Sniff or Two**

* * *

 

_Previously on "Dinner for Two"…_

_Marinette gently slapped her cheeks, "His age! I wanted to ask for his age!" she smiled when the waiter handed her the menu and she quickly settled for a simple chocolate croissant with hot chocolate._

_Her stomach suddenly grumbled, and Marinette blushed uncomfortably as she tried to not sink through the floor in humiliation, "Uhm, m-make that two croissants please," she grinned sheepishly but her trusty waiter smiled kindly and left with her order._

_Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, subtly poking her stomach in punishment for being so loud._

_And then, she saw the big black cat toy being carried towards her from a different waiter._

_Marinette braced herself but felt excited._

_She wished she could tell if Chat Noir felt the same, or if he was happy to see her. The times she had been here and they had their little talks, they seemed to have gotten along well._

_How many times had she been here already?_

_Six? Seven? Marinette shook her head and nodded at the waiter who settled Chat Noir on the stool, eyes quickly shooting toward the stuffed toy when he left._

_Marinette looked left and right to see if any other customers glanced her way and she shyly lifted her hand to wave at her companion, "Hi kitty,"_

_The reply made her smile, "Good evening purrincess,"_

_Adrien smiled and moved near the microphone again, "How are you feline today?"_

_Marinette giggled, a fond smile on her face as she looked at Chat Noir, "Oh just purrfect,"_

Adrien grinned at her pun, clasping his hands together and muttering under his breath, "How sweet,"

Plagg made a gagging noise, " _Nasty,"_

Adrien rolled his eyes, "Plagg," he didn't need to turn around to know the man was frowning like the grump he was.

"What? You're behaving all sappy, as if that isn't bad enough, you forgot to bring me cheese," he yawned, stretching his long limbs, akin to a cat.

A sigh, "Plagg, you're a grown man, the store isn't far from here and by the way, this is a _restaurant_ , I'm pretty sure Pierre keeps a stock of cheese ready whenever you have your mood swings," he even remembered where Pierre kept it, under lock and key right under his desk in his small office at the back in a room behind the kitchen.

Plagg looked affronted, " _Mood swings?!_ Hey, my cheese cravings stem from fine taste receptors on my tongue, I have no control over my fine palate," Adrien couldn't stifle an amused chuckle.

"Right," he grinned and focused back on Marinette, who was looking at something into her notebook, "We'll talk about the significance of cheese later, Plagg,"

Plagg rolled his eyes, but his expression softened slightly when he saw Adrien lean forward to talk eagerly into the microphone. He shook his head, focusing back on the man he was sat in front of, grimacing slightly, "Tch, why can't I have cute Tikki to talk with too…" begrudgingly, he pressed on the speaker and drawled his practiced lines from his own messy notes on cat puns.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marinette heard Chat Noir's computer altered voice sound from the toy, " _That looks purrty interesting, what are you looking at purrincess?"_

Marinette took a small bite from her croissant, eyes scanning the lines of her finished draft for the dress, "I'm looking over a design for a dress I have to finish today, there's a photoshoot coming up soon and it has to be ready until then,"

Chat Noir mulled this over, "Photoshoot? She's a designer?" now that he thought about it, he hadn't asked her any personal questions at all.

He cleared his throat, catching Marinette's attention, " _Pardon princess, but if I may ask, you work as an artist?"_ it would fit her image, he didn't know why, but something creative just seemed to go along well with her.

Marinette smiled, setting her notebook and pencil down to focus on the stuffed toy, "Actually I'm a designer, um, I don't know if you heard of it but I own a small designer and art studio not far from here the ' _Lucky Charm'_ ," Adrien swore he heard the name from somewhere, but he couldn't remember when, still it was impressive, being so young and already having an art and designer studio.

Speaking of age…

" _Say princess, if I offend you with my question, you don't have to answer it, but…how old are you exactly?"_ he had to confess he had been curious since they first met, she looked young, so she definitely couldn't be over thirty…she looked around the same age as him to be honest.

Marinette stilled, her brain kicking in, " _Right! This is it! I wanted to ask him that too!"_ she self-consciously licked her teeth behind the barrier of her lips to ensure she had no leftovers from the chocolate croissant she had chewed on before answering, "I'm twenty five actually, what about you chaton?" she smiled at him, at the same time mentally bracing herself. He had a young-sounding voice as far as she was concerned, but maybe he was far older? She could be friends with an older man who made cat puns no problem.

Marinette swore he was smiling when he answered, " _I'm twenty-six! What a surprise we're close in age!"_ he even sounded like he was secretly cheering at the revelation.

Marinette covered her mouth to stifle her giggles, getting a few brief looks from other patrons, "Really? I was expecting a ' _purrprise'_ in there somewhere," she teased, feeling slightly childish for doing so.

So, he _was_ young, after all! She would have to tell Alya of this immediately, if only to stop her from constantly assuming Chat Noir was an old, perverted fart.

" _Clawsome princess, you made a pun! I see I'm not the only one with a penchant for it , hmm?"_ he was feeling smug, she could tell and Marinette couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, feeling excited and giddy from learning something new, something _personal_ from this mysterious, yet real creature before her.

"Well, my dad makes a lot of puns, I guess I picked up on a few of them, though his are mostly bakery-related ones," she waved her hand dismissively, "And yes, he makes dad jokes too,"

Chat Noir sounded _ecstatic,_ " _Bless that man! I would love to meowt him!"_ the atmosphere stilled, as if an invisible spell was broken and Marinette felt her heart sped up slightly for no reason.

Chat Noir? Meeting her father? Her parents? The thought made her feel odd, she knew it was a joke, something he said due to their mutual liking of puns, but still, if Chat Noir were to ever become her real friend, behind the toy, she could picture it happening, him meeting her parents.

She pictured a tall-looking man, perhaps with brown or black messy hair, a cute smile and maybe even innocent eyes, or dark mysterious ones, laughing and sharing jokes with her father and being overly polite to her mother. For some reason, she imagined him having dimples when he smiled or even freckles over his nose or cheeks, maybe he even had blue eyes? Would he dress in colorful clothing due to his jokester personality? Or would he dress more fashionably or seriously? Did his work affect it?

How fast would Alya kill her for getting to know a cute stuffed toy with a sexy voice instead of a tall handsome man with a sexy voice? Then again, it wasn't like she liked - _no_ , was curious about the _object_ , but the _person_ behind said object.

A sudden thought crossed her mind, "Um, Chat Noir," she played with the end of the white tablecloth nervously, afraid she was crossing a barrier, "Uh, I'm not sure if this is too personal of a question but…is this your only job?" she realized how it may sound like, so she rephrased her sentence, "I mean, I'm not really sure how voice acting is handled, is it like a full time job or do you work as something else too? Oh, or do you study and work part time?" was she asking too many personal questions he couldn't answer? Would he be mad?

Adrien's hands were sweating beneath the buttons on the monitor, various occupations running through his mind to come up with something that couldn't possibly connect him to modelling or the Agreste name, should he ever tell her his real name, but his mind was in too much of a panic to think straight.

That's when he felt another hand over his own pressing the speaker button, a deeper lazier voice drawling on the mic, "I'm a professor at the university,"

In a knee-jerk reaction, Adrien kneed Plagg in his side, quickly pulling their hands away from the speaker so Marinette didn't hear his pained grunt.

Adrien's narrowed eyes met Plagg's impassioned gaze, "What. The. _Hell, Plagg?!_ " Adrien stared at the man, "Are you _crazy?!_ I can't say that! What if she doesn't believe me? What if she asks what subject I teach? What university will I name? What if she wants to meet?! What if-"

Plagg rolled his eyes, "Adrien. Chill. I just saved your butt, kid. If she asks what you teach, tell her your favorite subject since you know most about that. If she wants to meet you tell her it's against some stupid professor-student stuff. If she asks what university you go to, tell her your own one, see? Simple," he smirked proudly.

Adrien quickly shook his head, "No, I can't tell her where I _really_ go to university, it may be connected to _me_ later on, I'll…give her a random one just in case," yes…a random university sounded safer than his own.

His eye twitched irritably when a sudden thought hit him, he looked up at the smirking fool, "Plagg… _what if we go to the same university?!"_ Adrien hit his forehead against the keyboard.

Plagg threw his hands up in the air, "Oh come _on_ , what are the chances kid?"

Adrien quickly pressed the speaker button and spoke, albeit a little shakily at first, " _Uh, yes, I'm a professor at…at Universite de creation de Paris,"_ Adrien felt a surge of hope and triumph fill his chest. At least now, if he chose to reveal his true name, she wouldn't possibly connect it with the name Adrien Agreste from anywher-

And suddenly, Marinette's voice sounded, " _Oh really? That's cool! I go to the same one!"_

Now, Adrien could safely, with utmost confidence, say the moments he used curse words were very few and far between, however in that moment, both Plagg and him obviously deemed it justified to just say, " _Merde…"_

Adrien slowly swiveled around to face a stunned Plagg, "….You…" his voice was flat, "Plagg! What do we _do_?!"

The dark haired man was silent for a few seconds, before pulling out his phone, "What are you doing _now_?!" Adrien was edgy in his seat, his feet bobbing up and down erratically from the lie he had just told Marinette.

Plagg stared robotically at his screen, typing something, "I'm calling Tikki, she's smart, she can figure this out," he pressed his phone to his ear and Adrien slammed his face against his desk.

After a few seconds, Plagg's demeanor, while subtle, changed drastically. Adrien picked up on the way his shoulders were slightly straighter but relaxed, his whole body more relaxed and adopting a more open body language than the usual unapproachable, lazy hunch he usually had. To this day, Adrien wondered how such a bright and wonderful person as Tikki came to love him, not that there _weren't_ things to love about him but…one would have to squint to pinpoint them.

Right, he was talking to Tikki, "Alright, sweetcheese, exactly how can we get out of this?" Plagg waited patiently, Tikki obviously talking, before he groaned, "Are you _sure_ we can't just hire someone to prance around the university who acts like the idiot and that's it?" Plagg winced and held the phone away from his ear until the loud volume of Tikki's voice died down, "Alright, alright, I'm sorry bugaboo, thanks for the tip," with a quick, whispered 'love ya', Plagg hung up the phone and glared Adrien down.

Adrien smiled innocently despite the situation, "You're head over heels for her,"

Plagg grinned lazily, "Don't you mean head over _tails_?" his grin stretched, "Oh, wait, head over _paws_ , that's a good one, gotta write that down," he wanted to rush over to his own desk until Adrien cleared his throat loudly, "Oh, right, the call. Yeah, err, Tikki said not to hire a stand-in," he scratched the back of his neck, "Something about toying with the girl's heart or the other. She also said since you study there anyway, you could pay someone and pretend to be a professor if you wanna meet up in person,"

Adrien frowned, "That's not gonna happen Plagg, if you forgot, I don't exatly have an easily forgettable face," he grimaced, remembering all the billboards and posters of him and his father's fashion line everywhere in Paris.

Plagg drawled, "What a tragedy that would be," at Adrien's dirty look, the older man sighed and threw his hands behind his head, "Alright, listen kid, Tikki also said that, since she doesn't know how you look like, you could either disguise yourself or just…err…be in the same place at the same time and play a guessing game with her to see if she would recognize your sappy butt from somewhere,"

Adrien wished he had a pillow or brick to chuck at Plagg's face, "Very funny Plagg, thank you." He turned back toward the screen, at Marinette's turned attention to her food and notebook, "Alright…I think I got this," with a curiously arched brow, Plagg returned to his own seat, keeping an eye on the blond.

Adrien took a deep breath and with slightly shaking fingers, reached for the speaker, " _Sorry purrincess, the connection got lost,"_

Marinette's head shot up from her focus on her design, her heart lifting at realizing Chat Noir hadn't ignored her but had a technical error which caused him not to answer for a while, "Oh, I'm glad, I thought you were ignoring me,"

The voice that spoke sounded soft and serious, " _Never, purrincess,"_ Marinette felt her hands slightly sweat and tried to direct her attention to her dress, until a question popped into her head she had previously wanted to ask.

"In what courses do you teach? Since we go to the same university, there's a chance I had you once or twice," it wasn't uncommon that professors, particularly artist ones, went on longer travels abroad searching for inspiration or simply exploring in foreign countries, she imagined it was highly likely she may not have seen him at all yet.

It appeared she was right, " _Apologies princess, we haven't met yet I believe,"_

Marinette smiled, leaning her chin on her hand, "I bet it would be interesting having you as a teacher, I can't even imagine that," she giggled, covering her mouth.

Chat Noir made a gasping noise, sounding offended or amused or even both, " _Have I ever-! Princess! You can't be serious! I'm a purrfect example for a furry good professor loved by all his students!"_ she could imagine the expression the face behind the toy was making.

A small grin stretched her lips as she rubbed away at any remains from her croissant or the hot chocolate, "Oh really? Well, I guess there's nothing else to do other than wait for you to show up at one of my lectures, right?" she acted far more confident than she felt, internally she was _screaming._

What was she _doing?_

Was she _flirting?_

She didn't know what was worse, learning she wanted to strike a friendship with a stuffed cat and the man she had no idea what he looked like behind it, or striking up an odd friendship with a professor who taught at her very own university and could potentially damage her education if word got out she was having…. _dinners_ with a teacher.

Granted, she had no idea beforehand, but that didn't change the fact that things could get messy if any of this got out, "This…job you're doing, nobody knows you're doing it right?"

A short pause before he answered, " _Not a soul, I purromise. Why?"_

Marinette ignored the heat in her cheeks, "Erm, nothing, just wondering," she glanced at her watch and her heart almost stopped.

An hour and a half.

An hour and a half.

_An hour and a half._

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Chat but I really have to go right now!" she quickly threw her phone in her purse and snatched the appropriate money from her pants pocket, "I have to go! I didn't look at the time and I was already supposed to be at the studio again!" what if Nathaniel had shown up earlier? Would he be disappointed that she took so long for her break?

Chat's voice caused her to freeze, " _Wait!"_ watching the toy for a second, she quickly made her way toward it, leaning her head closer to its own so other customers couldn't find out his secret conversations with her.

Granted, there was absolutely nothing suspicious about a woman leaned into a toy's head to apparently listen to him speak.

_Marinette the toy-whisperer._

Her new career path looked promising.

" _Thank you for today, Marinette. I really enjoyed it."_ A short silence, " _Will you come again tomeowow?"_

Marinette couldn't hide the smile automatically stretching her lips at the pun, "I think so, if I finish the dress tonight, my schedule won't be so full tomorrow and uhm, I can stay longer so we can uh, _chat_ ," she smiled, realizing her unintentional pun, before remembering the time, "Ah, right! I'm sorry Chat but I really have to go! See you tomorrow kitty!"

Out of a completely inexplainable and what Marinette would call, _instinctual_ reason, her fingers reached to lightly scratch beneath the cat's chin before she sped toward the cashier to pay for her food.

Adrien wasn't sure what and how it happened, but he found himself sitting at his desk, not for the first time since Marinette's arrival, in a puddle of goo.

She had called him kitty again.

She said they could talk longer tomorrow.

She made a _pun_. _Of his name._

She had petted him. Petted the _toy_ but he saw the place where her fingers had went and saw the slight rocking motion of the camera when she scratched the cat's chin.

Adrien could imagine how soft her fingers must feel, what sensation it would be on his own chin.

Until Plagg yawned obnoxiously loudly from the other side, "This is why I never wanted children,"

Adrien chucked an empty cheese wrapper at his head.

* * *

Marinette had nearly stumbled into several people on her way to the studio and could already spot the lights from afar, just a few more steps.

Could it be she left them on? No, she always made sure they were off when she left, which could only mean-

Marinette burst through the door, the bell jiggling with her dynamic arrival and Nathaniel turned from his hunched over position at her latest design, "Oh, you're back," he smiled and scratched the back of his neck, "I hope you don't mind, I corrected a few of your latest drafts for the dresses and skirts, you can take a look if you want,"

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, her heart still racing from her power walk, "Hey Nath I…I'm so sorry, I was out to grab a quick bite to eat and I completely forgot the time and-" her friend quickly stopped her with a chuckle.

"Hey, no worries, we still have time since you've come pretty far, the dress needs some finishing touches, checking the body measurements and picking out a few accessories for the model to wear, then we're done," he gave her a easy-going thumbs up, "It's alright, you're the boss, you deserve to take a longer break every once and a while, especially with the all-nighters you pull,"

Marinette felt grateful for her friend's endless understanding personality. And then a thought hit her, should she ask Nathaniel about Chat Noir? But she didn't even know his _real_ name and she had no idea what he looked like. It's not that she could just ask Nathaniel _'Hey Nath, do you maybe know a professor that's our age who really loves making puns and works part-time at a restaurant as a voice actor as an adorable stuffed cat toy?'_

_No._

She would have to find it out for herself.

Marinette smiled and placed her bag on a stool near a plethora of older, finished sketches of various articles of clothes, "Thanks Nath, you're too good to me sometimes," she walked over by his side and eyed the small, subtle corrections he made, which ultimately made the sketch better than she remembered it being, "You're right, once changes have been made, you can actually see how big of an impact even the smallest details have on your work," she bumped her shoulder with his playfully.

Nathaniel smiled, a blush coating the bridge of his nose and cheeks, "It's n-nothing, really, just a few things you would have noticed on your own anyway, I was just here before you," he shrugged and smiled when Marinette softly punched his shoulder.

"Hey, don't say that, you're an excellent artist and I can only hope to learn even a smidge of what you already know and can do," Nathaniel's heart did little somersaults he suspected weren't entirely normal nor healthy, but they always did that when Marinette complimented him.

He rubbed his arm and smiled behind the curtain of his hair, "Thank you," Marinette beamed and took out of her notebook to look over the final draft, "By the way, how was your break?"

Marinette remembered the conversation she had with Chat Noir and all the little things she had learned about him today and smiled warmly, "It was… _purrty_ nice,"

Nathaniel rose an eyebrow at her odd word choice but didn't question it further, immediately getting back to work instead.


	7. Meowting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally found inspiration to write again. Also posted on my FanFiction.Net account!

* * *

~ ** _Meowting_** ~

* * *

_Previously on "Dinner for Two"…_

_He rubbed his arm and smiled behind the curtain of his hair, "Thank you," Marinette beamed and took out of her notebook to look over the final draft, "By the way, how was your break?"_

_Marinette remembered the conversation she had with Chat Noir and all the little things she had learned about him today and smiled warmly, "It was…purrty nice,"_

_Nathaniel rose an eyebrow at her odd word choice but didn't question it further, immediately getting back to work instead._

It was finished.

They were _done!_

Marinette jumped up from her swiveling chair, tripping over an innocently laying piece of stray fabric on the floor, taking with her pencils and scrunched up paper balls of dismissed clothing drafts.

It woke up Nathaniel too, who was hunched over his work table, a piece of paper sticking to the side of his cheek and his hair a mess, or more so than usually.

He immediately scrambled to get up, removing the piece of paper from his face and rushing toward Marinette, who rubbed her knee from colliding with the floor, "Owww….I just woke up too," she whined, sighing at her own clumsiness.

Nathaniel smiled, grabbing her arm and helping her stand, before kneeling down to collect the scattered pencils and papers, nearly bumping heads with Marinette, who did the same, "At least we got the dress finished," he smiled, thinking back on the incident they had last night.

Shipment companies didn't open for business until eight o'clock, thankfully Nathaniel had a friend from school working there, who had a favor to return and was willing to get up at four in the morning to get the dress to the model's address, which was quite a few blocks away.

Once they organized everything, Marinette grinned up at Nathaniel, "We're done!" she threw her arms up in the air with a big grin.

Nathaniel's eyes livened up, usually shy expression lightening up in happiness, "We're done!" he echoed her cheer, both adults throwing their arms around one another in joy and laughing at their successful job done.

They were only seconds into the impromptu hug, seconds it took Nathaniel to become acutely aware of Marinette's smaller body pressed to his own, nearly perfectly, like two puzzle pieces, her softer curves fitting into his harder edges.

His mind was swimming and he felt lightly lightheaded, " _Keep it cool, Nathaniel. It's just a hug, you've hugged girls before. Granted, they were relatives or colleagues from work, but they were women nonetheless. You've got this,"_ he heard Marinette squealing in delight and she hugged him tighter, " _You don't got this, you don't got this, plan B! Plan B! PLAN B!"_ standing frozen there with Marinette in his arms, cheering obliviously to his mental panic attack, he tried to think of something to do or say.

"I-It's really great tt-that we managed it right?" he grinned nervously, thankful for the cover her hair gave to hide his face in.

Bad idea.

She smelled of baked goods, of the light, subtle perfume she wore, of _Marinette_.

He was getting lightheaded again.

Marinette brought him back to reality with her angelic voice, "We sure did Nath! We should celebrate!" finally, or not, Marinette slowly broke away, beaming up at him in happiness.

Nathaniel quickly grinned back, scratching at the back of his neck, pulling tightly on the small hairs at the nape of his neck to reel in his chaotic emotions, "R-right!" he squeaked out, punching his chest as if to clear his throat.

Marinette smiled, resting her hands on his shoulders, "But I really couldn't have done it without you Nath, without your continuous support and professional help, I never would have gotten all these projects finished in time, so thank you for always being there for me," she leaned up on her tip toes, _how cute_ , and her soft lips pressed against his cheek in a short, sweet kiss.

Nathaniel's brain short circuited.

" _Reboot! Reboot! Reboot!"_ he still felt her hands on his shoulders, the warmth they emanated, and they squeezed him, " _RESPAWN! RESPAWN! RESPAW-"_

"Hey you guys! Are we interrupting?" Nathaniel's whole body froze and Marinette's hands fell away from his shoulders, his mind slowly clinging onto the last shred of his sanity to bring him back to the present.

"Not at all! Glad you guys made it!" Marinette beamed at them.

Wait, he _knew_ that voice…

He turned around and saw none other than Rose and Juleka, Rose as always on Juleka's arm, the two women smiling at them, particularly eyeing _him_ with a strange expression on their faces.

He was sure his face was the same color as his hair. Marinette rushed toward them and grasped their hands, "We finished the dress! We sent it for delivery in the morning, the model should have already gotten them and tried it on! Oh, isn't that great?!" while Rose and Juleka genuinely were excited, since it was their project too, their eyes discreetly traveled to the flustered man in the back, who looked like he would faint from either lack of air or a heart attack if the redness of his face and his wide blown eyes were any indication.

The fact that they had been hugging before Rose had spoken up gave them a clue as to why their long- time friend looked like he would fall into cardiac arrest and Marinette's giddy state.

Juleka shared a look with Rose until the dark-haired woman wrapped an arm around her superior and friend and led her toward the small kitchenette at the back, "Why don't we celebrate with a glass of coffee? I bet you guys must have worked until late in the night, you will need the boost," Marinette smiled appreciatively at her friend, telling her all about the frustration and panic she felt for not making it to the due date or messing up the design or finishing touches.

Rose sneaked up on Nathaniel and rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look down at her, a hue of redness still on his cheeks. Rose's blue eyes looked up into his own lighter blue ones, "Cheer up! Don't give up," she smiled encouragingly up at her friend since school, patting his shoulder one more time before she moved to join the others in the kitchenette.

Nathaniel sighed, shoulders slumped in defeat, " _Maybe Rose is right, maybe I shouldn't give up, not until I at least before I try to act,"_ he frowned, noticing his lack of efforts in pursuing Marinette, " _If only I can be like SuperNathan and be more brave…"_ he shook his head, running a hand through his hair before grabbing his empty mug from his work desk and following the scent of coffee from the kitchen.

* * *

Nathaniel packed his bag, spotting his half full coffee canister on his desk before grabbing it and making a beeline for the door, "Shoot, I'll be late," he checked his watch, annoyed at himself.

He still had twenty minutes, he should be fine with a power walk.

Suddenly, Marinette's voice caused him to freeze on the spot, and he wondered if that effect would ever go away someday, "Wait! I need to go too!" he watched her frantically grab for the sketchbook at her desk before racing towards him. They both hastily waved to Juleka and Rose before exiting the studio.

Nathaniel rose an eyebrow, "Wait, you have lectures today?" he didn't remember her having any lectures to attend today, not that he kept track of her schedule or anything…

Marinette smiled, "I decided to go to your lecture!" she looked a bit unsure but hopeful when she looked up at him, "If that's okay, professor?"

The way she addressed him as 'professor' made his heart skip a beat and he was sweating underneath his dress shirt as he tugged at his collar, " _Breathe, keep it cool, it's Marinette, you know her, you know her, it's alright,"_

It took him a second to realize he still didn't answer her, "O-oh, yes, well, only if you want to of course," he coughed into his hand. " _Way to go, 'professor',"_ he frowned at himself.

Marinette noted the frown on his face, "Um, are you sure? I don't want to intrude or disturb your lecture," was he angry because she would distract him? Or would his students think he would favor her because they were friends? She definitely didn't want to make him look bad in front of his students.

Nathaniel violently shook his head, nearly colliding with a lamp post during their brisk walk on the pavement, "What? No, no, no of course not, feel free to come to my lectures whenever you like! We always have free seats!"

It wasn't even an expression, art lectures _always_ had free seats, not many people could be found with the talent to enroll and survive art universities, not to mention those who are good enough to make a living from creating art alone without having to get a job on the side. Still, Nathaniel counted himself under lucky stars for having not only talented, but motivated students in his courses, perhaps it was his own passion in his lectures that transferred over to them or simply the effort he put into making topics like art history interesting to keep them invested in the cause.

Fifteen minutes.

Nathaniel's pace quickened and Marinette easily kept up, not wanting to arrive late either, "I can't remember the last time I was in one of your lectures, I bet you are just as good as I remember you from last time," she grinned innocently up at him and Nathaniel had the inkling feeling like he would need to carry a defibrillator with him at all times from now on if he wanted any chances of surviving his next heart attacks he knew would come the longer he spent time with Marinette.

It sounded funny, even to his own ears, but she was his…cause for heart attacks? Disturbance? Health problem?

Nathaniel scrunched his nose, that didn't sound romantic _or_ positive at all.

Discreetly, making sure to hide the display from Marinette's view, Nathaniel quickly typed in his _Notes_.

 _"_ _Search romantic terms for 'heart attack cause', 'disease'"_

"Oh someone texting you?" Nathaniel nearly dropped his phone from the nervous sweat that began accumulating in his hand the second he heard Marinette's voice speak.

He pocketed his phone and quickly cleared his throat, "Ah, just wrote something down. I remembered one of my colleagues said something to me about tomorrow's lectures…"

The only positive thing, if one could call it that, Nathaniel could name from his years of bullying in elementary all the way to his senior years of high school would be it made him a better liar. There had often been situations where white lies were the key to getting out of uncomfortable situations, so it made him an expert in that department.

He still wasn't sure whether or not he was proud of that fact.

Still, he couldn't deny it didn't help sometimes. He looked down at Marinette, smiling, "I'm not sure if today's topic will really peak your interest…" he scratched the back of his neck, feeling like a shy, insecure teenager all over again.

He knew Marinette thought him to be a good professor, but he was always afraid of screwing up whenever her eyes were on him, a fact unknown to her, simply because he didn't want to give her any sort of guilty feelings for his own insecurities.

The dark-haired woman winked at him reassuringly and Nathaniel felt one part of his brain turn to mush, the technical part, the part he would need soon to think rationally, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be completely fine, I know you have a knack for making even the most boring things interesting. I bet you could talk about rocks all day and by the end of it, we would be talking about all the great statues the Greeks and Romans had made in the past and their significance in their culture and religion," she giggled, playfully bumping her shoulder against his and Nathaniel's heart quickened its pace.

" _Definitely need that defibrillator…and maybe a pack of calming pills or two,"_ he looked at the soft, encouraging smile on Marinette and took a deep breath, " _…make that three,"_

He seriously questioned how he would survive the day.

* * *

Adrien banged on the door to the men's bathroom irritably, his foot tapping against the floor, "Plagg! What in the world is taking you so long? You've been in there for a solid hour!"

A disgruntled voice from the other side answered weakly, " _I think the camembert I ate earlier was bad…"_

Adrien's eye twitched, "But camembert is _supposed_ to be bad!" the model threw his arms up in the air in frustration, "You know what? That's it! I will contact my nutritionist and get you an appointment, he will set you straight," Adrien took out his own, scrolling through his contacts list as he ignored Plagg's drawled out whines.

" _Nooo Adrien, camembert is the only thing in my life, besides Tikki, that I can't live withouuuutt. Don't take my preciousness away from meeeee!"_ Adrien rolled his eyes at his friend's dramatics, stepping away from the door the moment the man started grumbling again and not to whine at him.

After a few short messages, the appointment was done and Adrien shouted from a few feet away toward the bathroom door, "It's done! Your appointment starts at six on Monday!"

" _Nooooooo!"_ Plagg's whines faded into the background when Adrien sneaked back into the kitchen.

It was almost opening time, a few customers could always come a bit early to order something, he didn't want to risk the chance of being spotted.

He ran into Miss Cesaire, or Marlena as she insisted he called her, on his way back to the VA room. She smiled up at him and he bowed to her with a charming, genuine smile, "Good morning to you Miss Cesaire,"

The older woman laughed and patted his shoulder kindly, looking up at him in amusement when he straightened, "Good morning to you too Adrien," she looked behind him, raising an eyebrow, "Where did that grumpy man go? I have his cheese delivery all set for the day,"

Adrien scratched the back of his neck, "Uh…he had some…technical problems to take care of first," he grinned sheepishly, and Miss Cesaire got the hint when he motioned toward the general direction of the men's bathroom.

She rolled her eyes, "That man, I told him too much cheese is not good for his metabolism." She briefly moved toward the stove to hand Adrien a packed box with a sweet smile, "This is for you sweetie, I know you're all cooped up in that smelly old room, all you eat is dry food so I made a little something that I'm sure your nutritionist won't mind you eat," she winked at him with a motherly smile.

Adrien's heart warmed at the thoughtful gesture and enveloped the older woman in a brief, one armed hug, "Thank you Miss Cesair-"

She waved her finger at him disapprovingly, "Ah, ah, ah, Marlena to you dear," she grinned and pinched his cheek, "Ah, look at you! I bet the girls can barely keep their hands off you, can they?" she laughed, knowing his modelling career full well, she did use to cook for his father after all.

Adrien shrugged, "Sometimes," he perked up when he heard the door to the bathroom open, "Ugh, _finally_. I'd hate to go in now that, that bottomless pit has been in there, but unless I want to dry out the plants, I have no choice," he delicately set his packed lunch on the clear metal surface before bowing again to Miss Cesaire, "Thank you again for the meal, Marlena," he grinned boyishly and sped off in the direction towards the men's bathroom.

She giggled when she heard Plagg's shout of irritation, before the man himself grumpily walked into the kitchen area, looking a bit pale, a bit worn out.

Marlena fixed him with a smug look, "The cheese?"

Plagg groaned, "The cheese," despite his state, he spotted the packed lunch sitting on the cooking surface and his hands made a grab toward it, "Food-"

Marlena slapped his fingers away, "That's for Adrien!" she admonished with a frown, the younger man frowning in displeasure.

Plagg hissed, "The kid has a _nutritionist_ who takes care of him. Why don't you cook _me_ lunch?" he whined and Marlena rolled her eyes.

"Because you're an adult man who can cook something for himself," she turned around and headed towards the fridge.

Plagg groaned again, "But Adrien is an adult _too_!"

Marlena shouted back, "But a sweet one!"

Plagg scoffed, "…Witch,"

"What was that?"

Plagg coughed violently into his hand, "I-ITCH! I HAVE AN ITCH!" he scratched his back violently for emphasis and Marlena, while approaching him from wherever she went, gave him an odd, suspicious look.

She held out a wrapped, rectangular box to him, which looked quite tall, "Here, this will keep you from killing us with your atomic litter box,"

Plagg resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her as he accepted the gift, "…Chee-"

" _No!_ Something much better," she patted his messy black hair like a kid, "You will be begging me to make it again and never look at camembert," she grinned playfully.

Plagg huffed, "Doubt it," he nodded toward the lunch, "But thanks anyway, Marlena, you may be a spitfire but you're an angel of a spitfire,"

The mother of three wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel flattered or insulted by the poor attempt of a compliment from Plagg, but nevertheless she knew whatever form of praise from that man was genuine praise.

"And you're a lazy blob of cheese which doesn't need to age any more to stink as much," she smirked at his flabbergasted expression, and giggled when his mouth tried to form words but no sounds came out.

Their banter was short lived by the arrival of Adrien, who rose an eyebrow at the silent exchange between the two, grabbing his lunch box from where he left it, "Plagg didn't insult you again did he Marlena?"

The chef smiled, "No, but I think I did," she laughed on her way toward her team of chefs already waiting for her at the back, smiling when she heard Plagg spluttering to make a comeback but ultimately failing as Adrien led him away before the restaurant officially opened.

Their trip back to the room was peaceful enough, until Adrien asked, "So, what did she say that made you look like the cat got your tongue?"

Plagg's expression morphed into annoyed fury, "That…that… _witch!"_

It was funny, despite Plagg _sometimes_ being rude and knowing to possess a repertoire of colorful words, he always, _always_ used very mild terms for Marlena if she ever annoyed or angered him, the worst of which was the term 'witch'. Farther than that he would not allow himself to go, which was more than alright with Adrien, who would either lock his cheese stash away or kick him out if that were to happen.

Adrien chuckled, "Did she complain about your cheese breath?"

Plagg fixed him with an annoyed look as they opened the door to their room, "I'll take it back, you're the witch," Adrien laughed after closing and locking the door behind them, both going to their respective chairs and setting about to opening their food.

It was still early, but neither Plagg nor Adrien had had the time to eat, so this was their…brunch.

Adrien smiled at his lunch, a carefully put together meal of separated fruits, richly filled sandwiches and a small milk container with a separate plastic bowl filled with cereal next to it.

It was a school lunch box.

He suddenly felt like a kid again, at least the times his mother used to make him such lunchboxes and it warmed and pained his heart at the same time.

Plagg unusually stilled on the opposite side and Adrien looked over to see what the cause of it was.

He was as still as a statue, eyes glued to the unwrapped container sitting on his desk next to the keyboard, and curiosity got the better of Adrien as he rolled his chair over to see what was in his lunch box.

It was divided into three parts.

The first container had an assortment of fruits, all fresh no doubt as he knew Marlena.

The second one had cooked vegetables with a delicious smelling sauce covering them.

The third had an arsenal of colorful-looking pills filling the space of the box, a note stuck to the top reading, " _Vitamins – eat or die"_

Adrien burst out laughing, twirling around in his swiveling chair as Plagg remained unmoving on his seat until he roared, " _THAT WITCH!"_

Needless to say, today would be a good day.

* * *

Today was a good day.

Miraculously, they didn't come late to the lecture, Nathaniel even had spare five minutes to prepare.

His lecture room was filled with his regulars already, a few faces he sometimes saw here and there. The only really "new" face was Marinette's, who, while a student herself, looked a bit out of place among his own students, not in a bad way necessarily, but different.

Maybe it was because none of his other students had the power to give him heart attacks just by looking or smiling his way.

She was smiling at him.

Nathaniel swallowed and smiled back wobbly.

She waved discreetly, and his legs nearly gave out from under him.

" _Control yourself, damn it. You're a grown man, a professor, you have students to teach!"_ gathering his fragile courage, Nathaniel collected the stack of papers he had printed out the last day and handed them out to his students, trying to not get distracted by the excited look on Marinette's face.

"Good morning, everyone,"

His greetings were returned, some more motivated than others and Nathaniel had to chuckle at hearing a few tired drawls among them, "Yeah, you're not the only ones tired," he stifled a yawn and most of his students chuckled.

He rolled his shoulders and started up the projector, grabbing the remote to show the appropriate slides, he felt his courage returning again as he focused on the things he knew best; art. The carefully crafted courage he got from working as a professor for a few years did wonders to his daily interactions, he even managed to socialize normally with his other colleagues, despite his past social introversion.

While he explained the details of modern art and comparing artist's inspirations with past art like from the times of Greeks and Romans, as well as Egyptian art, his gaze caught Marinette's, who, much to his amazement, seemed to absorb everything like a sponge and even take notes, despite not having to.

His heart skipped a beat and he didn't even notice he cut his own words off.

A student of his, Alix, raised her arm, a confused look on her face, "Uh…what did you want to say professor?"

Nathaniel blinked at her stupidly, "Huh?"

The pink haired woman pointed at the slide, "You were saying something about the Greek statues influencing Greek culture and being implemented into other nations' cultures through famous artists like…?"

Nathaniel's eyes flew open before he straightened his posture and pressed the button for the slide to continue, showing an array of pictures of old but famous artistic legends, "Uh, right, yes, thank you Alix!" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Yes…artists, what I was saying…"

His students laughed, not to chide him or scorn him, but out of amusement at his antics and Nathaniel learned long ago how to differentiate between being laughed _at_ or when somebody laughed _with_ you.

He chuckled at himself, shaking his head, "I guess that extra cup of coffee didn't sit well with me, perhaps I should switch to tea again," he pressed the button again, the image showing a teapot, stylized with Greek influenced figures, "Oops, sorry, nothing to tea here,"

He didn't empathize the pun, but his students were smart, figuring out the joke and laughing genuinely at his attempt at a joke. Among the giggles and chuckles, he recognized one especially.

It was Marinette's.

His cheeks darkened when he noticed she was giggling too, giving him a 'thumbs up' and an encouraging, friendly wink.

Nathaniel tugged at the collar of his shirt and opened the first button to let the air cool him.

Today would be an eventful day.

* * *

Marinette was so excited to be sitting among Nathaniel's students, only a few recognized her, the regulars, and she tried her best not to talk while Nathaniel was explaining up front, but she couldn't resist when Alix turned to her with a smirk and a whispered, "So, you and the professor?"

Marinette occasionally watched Alix skate about the campus, they were acquaintances and to her knowledge, understood each-other fairly well when they talked on occasion. She also knew Alix loved to sometimes tease Nathaniel, in a purely sisterly-brotherly type of way, and she knew the question wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.

Still, Marinette wasn't taking any chances, as she whispered back, "No, I just visited as a friend," she smiled when Alix shot her a understanding, soft smile, showing she meant no ill intentions with her joking question and Marinette giggled and discreetly slipped her macaron into her hand when Nathaniel wasn't looking, earning an appreciative glance from the pink haired woman in return.

Being a student in Nathaniel's lecture was like admiring art. You could see or learn things you didn't before, despite still looking at the same picture, just with a bit more background info than before. It was amazing how much artistic knowledge Nathaniel had so much to answer even difficult questions in a heartbeat without looking at his notes once.

Marinette knew enough professors to know years of dedication and genuine interest in the taught subject were needed to achieve such a feat and she had a broader spectrum of respect for Nathaniel's professor side shining through the longer the lecture went.

Marinette, in-between jotting down notes and listening to Nathaniel attentively, briefly wondered what sort of professor Chat Noir was.

Was he the joking type to throw in puns? What subject did he teach again? Did she ask him that? She didn't think she did. She quickly scribbled a small reminder at the corner of her page, marking it as _'Chat's corner'_ to ask him later. Could he be the split professor? The one that had a joking, easygoing personality outside of work but was actually pretty strict during lectures? Marinette could hardly imagine Chat Noir to be very strict, but then again, all she knew was him in the stuffed toy suit.

Marinette had to stifle a giggle with her hand at the thought, wishing he would reveal his other job to his students and that she was present when they bombarded him with questions about _why in the world their high esteemed professor was playing a stuffed cat in his free time._

More silent giggles erupted from Marinette and she desperately tried to stifle them when Nathaniel moved onto the next slide.

Instead, she turned the next page and scribbled down into what she dubbed was her "Chat's corner" from now on.

_Ask him about his students & subject he teaches._

Another corner.

_His interest in subject & why he chose it._

Soon, in tandem with her new notes on Nathaniel's lecture, her pages' corners were filled with "Chats corner's", enough to last them an entire hour worth of conversation once she went to dine again at the restaurant.

After the lecture, with Marinette waiting outside while Nathaniel talked to a group of his students for their next assignment, she absentmindedly looked at cat memes on her phone until somebody bumped into her shoulder.

"Oh, _purrdone_ me," a deep voice apologized, and Marinette looked up from her phone to apologize instinctively back, despite having done nothing wrong.

A man a head taller than her, a professor judging from the stacks of paperwork in his arms, his slightly tanned arms, arms that didn't look like they skipped any visits to the gym, and dark leather bag at his side, his messy dark bangs were falling into stark blue eyes, mirth dancing in the blue depths at her stunned silence-

_Wait what?_

_Was that a-_

"-pun…"

She couldn't believe it.

A _cat pun_ no less!

And the guy looked so _smug!_

Could it…could it be…was he?

"Miss?" he leaned down to be at eye level with her, "Cat got your tongue?" he grinned, flashing pearly whites which contrasted with his slightly tan skin tone, probably from sunbathing.

Her brain short-circuited.

Now the man looked slightly concerned, "Hey, miss did I-"

Marinette finally snapped to attention, "I-I'm sorry!" she squeaked out, "I, uh, I'm sorry I thought you were a good friend of mine for a second, I-" she smiled sheepishly until he chuckled.

"Oh really? Maybe I am," he winked and for a crazy second, Marinette imagined cat ears atop his head.

_Stop it!_

Marinette shook her head, "Uh, I'm sorry, I think I mistook your for…for someone?" now that she was beginning to think, Chat Noir surely wouldn't indicate directly that it was him, since they were in a place filled with people, people he surely didn't want to know of his identity.

He would be discreet, maybe even act a little clueless.

But he made cat puns and had that stupid smirk, the same smirk she imagined on Chat Noir, and he even almost fit her imaginary description to a 'T'…

Marinette smirked, looking at smugly at the man, "Well, my _pawult_ , I suppose I didn't get enough sleep, maybe a little cat nap will do," she giggled mentally, eager to see his reaction, Chat Noir's reaction.

The man grinned again, obviously amused, she couldn't believe Chat would be that amused by her use of puns, then again he did always sound excited when she used them occasionally, "Ahh, a lady of culture I see." He briefly looked at the mass of people surrounding them, before tucking his papers beneath his arm and holding out his free hand, "I'm Erik, by the way," he smiled down at her charmingly.

Marinette smiled, shaking hands with him. _"So, Erik was his real name?"_ she had expected more of a name with 'A' or something similar, but who was she to judge.

She smiled kindly back up at him, "I'm Marinette, nice to meet you,"

He grinned like a Cheshire cat, "Don't you mean _meowt_ you?" she giggled.

"Right, _meowt_ ," she smiled, feeling immensely glad to have finally found Chat Noir, the _real_ him, in such a short time. She had only been wondering _yesterday_ about meeting him at campus and now she _actually was!_

Chat Noir- _Erik_ \- looked around again and smiled, "What do you say we go out for a cup of coffee, Marinette?" he flashed that smile again and she had to admit, it did remind her of a trickster cat a bit.

Marinette smiled and nodded, "Sure thing, kitty,"

 **SUSPENSE!** Hope you enjoyed it everyone! Thank you for reading! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :) Leave a purriew if you like! :3


	8. A Wrong Feline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! I’m sorry it took so long to update, exams really took a bit of a toll on me along with mountains of homework (looking forward to Christmas break). Anyway, enjoy! I also post some of my fics in tandem on FFnet (ScarletRedfox) and Tumblr (as lady-charinette) so if anyone can’t read them here, feel free to visit these pages! :3

* * *

_**A Wrong Feline** _

* * *

 

Adrien checked his watch, greedily gulping down the water bottle he was crushing in his hand.

 

It had only been two and a half hours and he was already worn out, skipping fencing class those two weeks really didn’t pay off.

 

He yelped when something flew past him and hit the spot near his foot with frightening ferocity and speed, resulting in a loud, snapping sound to echo in the empty fencing hall.

 

His instructor’s voice cut through the silence like a blade, “Adrien! I will not tolerate slacking off during practice!”

 

Adrien turned, hoping he was looking at monsieur Armand with the most sincere puppy look he could muster, “But Monsieur D’Argencourt, I’m still on break.”

 

The middle-aged man frowned, staring down at Adrien’s face and sighed, pulling the headgear over his face, “Three more minutes and we will continue,” with that, he walked to the middle of the _salle_ and started practicing his movements.

 

Adrien sighed in relief, quickly answering Nino’s texts.

 

_“Hey Nino, sorry for getting back so late, I’m still on practice.”_

After only seconds, Nino replied back.

 **Nino:** “ _Hey dude, no worries. You still go to fencing? Damn, you must be really good after all that time! I got a gig tonight at that one club ‘DJWifi’, Alya’s gonna come too. I wanted to check if you can come at around 9pm.”_

Adrien pondered the invitation, mentally going through his plan for today, “ _Let’s see, fencing practice ends at 3pm. At 3.30pm I have a photoshoot with Chloe and Theo, then at 6pm it’s dinner with father. Work at the restaurant will be till 10pm, but I can convince Pierre to let me go early.”_

He glanced back down at his phone, biting his lip before quickly writing a reply under the expectant gaze of his teacher watching him.

 

“ _Sounds great! Yeah, I can come no problem!”_

Adrien beamed, quickly throwing his phone into his bag before jogging up to stand in front of his teacher, pulling down the protective headgear and assuming stance.

 

“You seem quite chipper today, Adrien.” His instructor remarked with a curious tone, tilting his head.

Adrien chuckled, “I guess, I’m going out with some friends tonight.”

 

Something softened in Armand’s tone, “I see, be sure to enjoy yourself then. For now…”

 

His actions however, remained sharp and powerful as ever as he initiated attack, “En garde!”

 

Adrien dodged, narrowly avoiding the rounded tip of the blade before parrying with his own, initiating attack after attack, sidestepping another attack and immediately following it up with one of his own, managing to hit Armand on the bicep.

 

Armand assumed position again, nodding his head, “Attack, parry, riposte, counterattack. Well done, Adrien.” Adrien smiled behind the mask, also getting into position.

 

“ _En garde!_ ”

 

Adrien pounced.

* * *

 

Nino grinned like a fool, quickly sending a text back to his best friend when Alya set a steaming cup of coffee down on the table.

 

He looked up at her and squeezed her free hand appreciatively, “Thanks babe, I really need a refill.” He set his phone down after sending the text, blowing softly on the steaming concoction.

 

Alya settled herself on the chair beside her boyfriend, watching the bright smile on his face with an amused smile of her own, “What’s gotten you so happy Nino?”

 

The young DJ grinned like a ray of sunshine at his girlfriend, who laughed at the expression, “Adrien just texted me back! He said he will come to our gig tonight!” Nino fist pumped the air excitedly like a child, almost spilling the hot coffee over himself, Alya laughing with her hands covering her mouth.

“ _Your_ gig, DJ. I just promote your work, you know?” she waggled her finger, taking a sip of her own coffee.

 

Nino shook his head, reaching across the table to grab her free hand and squeeze gently, “Nah, I wouldn’t be half as known if it weren’t for your amazing blog and you know it.” He smiled boyishly, causing Alya’s heart to beat faster, “Besides, your singing talent is amazing, you should really consider stepping up tonight!”

 

Nino laughed at the blush coloring Alya’s cheeks when he leaned forward to peck her lovingly, Alya taking advantage and pulling him forward by the collar of his shirt abruptly.

 

Nino clambered forward unsteadily and they both broke apart when Nino hissed and yelped sharply.

 

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Hot! Hot!”

 

“Oh my god, Nino I’m so sorry!”

* * *

 

“So, you said you were a professor, right? You mentioned teaching uh…” Marinette stuck her bottom lip out, scratching her cheek thoughtfully, “Uh, actually as far as I remember you didn’t mention what subject you teach, I had to run for work.” She giggled nervously, feeling embarrassed at having stood him up so abruptly.

 

The man visibly stiffened beside her, clearing his throat as he adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder, “Uh, subject, right, I didn’t mention anything did I, huh?”

 

 _“Damn, she mistook me for someone else! But she’s gorgeous I can’t let such an opportunity pass! Whatever, if that guy she thinks I am didn’t say anything, I have free reign,”_ the dark-haired male smiled charmingly, giving her a side glance, “Ah, I teach art psychology or more commonly, art therapy.” He grinned, adjusting the loose collar of his shirt.

 

Marinette beamed up at him brightly, her bluebell eyes filled with awe, it reminded him of a kid on Christmas, “Really? Wow! That’s amazing! Um, I don’t know if you know a professor named Nathaniel Kurtzberg? He’s also an art professor here, he teaches art history and modern art. I think he also knows a thing or two about art therapy.”

 

Erik rubbed his chin, the name ringing a distant bell in his head, “Hm…Kurtzberg…wait, short lanky guy with red hair?” he motioned with his hand to under Marinette’s own height, along with a teasing sneer.

 

Marinette’s nose flared, “Hey! Nathaniel is taller than me, he’s just a bit shorter than you!” she rose an eyebrow, mildly surprised from Chat’s sudden jerkiness.

 

“ _He didn’t seem like that on our meetings, was this an act for being in public?”_ she shook her head, slightly peeved at the poke at her dear friend.

 

Erik quickly raised his hands up in defense, “Ah, right, sorry, sorry. Yeah, I uh, I saw him a few times. He usually keeps to himself as far as I know, his desk at the lounge is always full but organized.” His eye twitched, muttering under his breath, “Tch, apparently cleanliness attracts the ladies.”

 

Marinette tilted her head, “What was that?”

 

Erik backpedaled hastily, “I said we should order coffee! At the café!” he grinned, “By the way, what do you work as?” she looked young, but not young enough not to be a professor herself.

 

Marinette’s lips formed into a line, “I told you kitty, I have my own design and art studio near the restaurant.”

 

Erik blanched, “ _Oh damn, she’s recalling conversations she had with that other guy. What do I do? Apparently, they meet regularly in that restaurant, but how can they talk if she never saw him? And why does she keep calling me kitty?”_ Erik exhaled, his mind racing for ideas.

 

He bowed his head slightly in her direction, offering a boyish smile he commonly used on the ladies, “Right! Right! Of course! _Apawlogies_ little lady, I seemed to have _furrgot_!” he laughed nervously, swallowing the dryness in his throat, “You see, I have so many exams to correct, the whole week has been really stressful for me.”

 

Marinette’s expression softened and her earlier irritation quickly faded. The poor man, here she was getting upset at him forgetting things when he must be so busy with being a professor, she knew students had it hard, it must be even worse for professors.

 

She knew Nathaniel often stayed up late to either correct exams, write new ones or prepare for his lectures and research study materials he would use, which took up a lot of time to find viable sources on the internet or in the library.

 

She rested her hand on his forearm, a redness covering her cheeks at feeling the firm muscle there, “ _Mind out of the gutter Marinete!”_ she cleared her throat, smiling up at him, “I’m sorry, I haven’t thought of how stressful your job can be. Especially since you also have the other one in the restaurant,” Marinette quickly clammed up, covering her mouth, her voice turning into a low whisper, “Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn’t say that out loud.”

 

Erik’s eyebrow shot up to his hairline, his hands began to sweat, “ _What? What? Other job? At the restaurant? Was it the same one they meet at? Just what sort of guy is he?! Does he work as a chef there? Butler? But then she would see him! Ugh! And why is she afraid of saying it out loud? Is it a secret?”_

 

For a full five seconds, Erik contemplated if getting involved with the odd woman was worth getting tangled up in her mystery connection with the highly mysterious other guy, but the decision was made when they entered the café.

 

He opened the door for her and she shot him a smile so bright, for a second, he thought it would blind him.

 

When he walked in after her and she ascended the small two steps, his eyes were glued to her hips and butt.

“Oh, that’s definitely a keeper,”

 

Marinette turned her head, “Hm?”

 

He placed a hand around her shoulders and directed her towards the cash register, “I said we should order macarons!”

* * *

 

An unpleasant feeling raced down Adrien’s spine suddenly, stopping to make sure he hadn’t suffered any mild wounds during fencing practice.

 

He pressed the spots on his back, along his spine and over to his front at his ribs. Nothing.

 

Adrien shrugged, jogging towards the car where the Gorilla was waiting.

 

Maybe it was just a _feline._

* * *

 

Once both Marinette and Erik settled into a quiet corner of the café, Marinette gently blew on her steaming mug of coffee while Erik stirred in his, thinking of topics to discuss without reminding her of anything she might have talked about with the guy he was supposed to be.

 

“Right, so uh, Marinette,” he cleared his throat, charming smile in place, “How is your work in the studio going? Any _purrgress_?” she seemed to be fond of puns, particularly cat puns, so he could work with that as a distraction. He honestly wondered what sort of guy made cat puns in his spare time at working in a restaurant. Really, he did.

 

Marinette smiled at the pun, a genuine, warm smile, “That’s right, I ran out on you before we could talk anymore. Well, so far so good, I finished the dress on time and the outfits were already delivered to the model. Now we’re just waiting for the fashion show to start in a few weeks, really.” Marinette took a tentative sip of her coffee, smiling at the sweetness, “You wouldn’t believe what a lifesaver Nathaniel was, he was a really big help with the dress. Especially the delivery! He had this friend that worked in the delivery business wake up at 4 in the morning just so the outfits were delivered to the model beforehand!” Marinette sighed happily, grinning from ear to ear, “Honestly, I don’t think that my studio would have survived without the support of him and my friends.” She shook her head with a smile, taking a bite out of her muffin.

 

Erik observed her facial expressions, finding something intriguing in them, “So, Mr. Kurtzberg is some competition, huh?” his lips formed into a grin, mischievousness and a challenge in his eyes.

 

If that were truly so, which he highly doubted, it wouldn’t be any problem for him to eliminate him. He was never short on dates and he had a hunch the red haired short stack never even went out with a woman before, so his chances of swaying Marinette over to his side were high.

 

Marinette scrunched her nose in confusion, “Competition?” short seconds passed, Erik’s amused smile grew, before Marinette’s entire face reddened adorably, “Oh n-no, no! Nathaniel and I had always been good friends! You see, we went to the same school together before, over the years we didn’t really keep in touch but then in high school I guess you could say we started anew as friends and it was like that since.” She shrugged half-heartedly, “Besides, he’s more like a brother type to me,” Marinette leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “And I think one of his students has a thing for him, as far as I could tell today anyway, so I’m rooting for him!” she giggled, taking another bite out of her blueberry muffin.

 

Blueberry, how fitting.

 

Erik chuckled, leaning his elbows on the white marble table, “Really? Kurtzberg with a girl? You don’t see that every day,” truthfully, he didn’t know the man very well aside from fleeting glances or passes in the hallway or the lounge, but from what Marinette was saying, he was the friend zoned type of guy.

 

He almost pitied him.

 

His hands began to sweat again when Marinette fixed him with a disapproving look, “Look Cha- _Erik_ , I don’t know what you have against Nathaniel or if it’s a thing between professors, but could you…not be so mean to him? Please? He’s my friend and I hate to hear anyone talking bad about my friends.”

 

Erik rubbed his sweaty hands on the material of his pants, being wary of the warning glance the woman sent him, “ _Great, she’s that type of girl who would choose her friend over a hot date. If that guy seemed nicer than I do now, she will definitely be suspicious. I can be nicer, no problem.”_ Allowing his lips to form into a genuine smile, Erik reached a hand across the table and gingerly grabbed her resting one on her mug, pulling it forward so his larger one covered hers over the table, “I’m sorry _mon Cherie,_ I promise I’ll be nicer to Nathaniel from now on.” He winked, hoping the act fooled her.

 

It did.

 

Marinette smiled, “Thanks Chat,” her answer was a whisper, obviously whoever the hell this ‘Chat’ person was wanted to be kept a secret, if she even whispered the weird name in public.

 

He shrugged, he could work around that.

 

Marinette’s nails dug into her thigh, trying to steady her heartbeat.

 

An almost nauseous feeling settled into the pit of her stomach, completely different than the usual warm butterflies she felt when talking to Chat Noir in the restaurant.  Why did his touch made her feel like this? She was so comfortable when they talked.

 

Marinette shook her head, “ _Calm down Marinette, that’s normal, right? It’s our first real meeting, of course it will feel a bit uncomfortable and weird at first.”_

She looked at his grin, slightly unsettling and a bit too wide.

 

It felt _wrong_.

 

* * *

 

It was already 8pm.

 

Adrien paced the VA room, his filled plate next to the computer remained untouched but still steaming, the screen showed a customer eating in front of the cat toy, to which Adrien paid no mind.

 

Plagg finally hissed from his eating frenzy on the chair, “Quit pacing it’s making my head spin, kid!” he couldn’t even enjoy his cheese casserole in peace! Kids these days…

 

The blond stopped and looked at his friend seriously, his gaze so intense that it made Plagg swallow thickly, “Uh…Adrien? You know there are cameras here, right? They like, they’re used for filming and…they can be used in court.” He glanced towards the four cameras, mentally calculating how long it would take Pierre to reach them if he screamed loud enough before Adrien managed to kill him.

 

The model sighed heavily and sat on his spinning chair, begrudgingly grabbing his spaghetti plate, which would’ve made his nutritionist rage, and slowly spinning the fork in the sea of noodles and meatballs, “She’s not here, Plagg.”

 

The dark-haired man snorted as he wolfed down another spoonful of cheese casserole, “You’re just impatient, she’ll come, the woman’s got a life too, ya know?” god did _he_ know, he wished Tikki wouldn’t be so busy with her clothing and jewelry shop all the time and spend some quality time with him.

 

Speaking of his little goddess, he didn’t send her that cat meme he saw today.

 

Plagg was just reaching for his phone when Adrien’s gloomy aura finally reached him, the model’s eyes sad.

 

A wave of pity and understanding crashed over Plagg and the older man sighed before swinging over to the blond’s side and bumping chairs with him, stabbing through the cheesy mess of his dinner, “She’ll come.”

 

He wasn’t a sentimental guy (except for cheese and Tikki), someone _had_ to be with all the emotional people in his life, but he understood missing someone dear to the heart and he suspected Adrien’s admiration of pigtails girl was starting to turn into affection.

 

Adrien glanced at his friend, before smiling and bumping elbows with the grumpy man, lifting his fork up to his mouth, “Thanks Plagg.” Something unintelligible came from Plagg’s mouth, whether it was a soft curse or a muttered ‘whatever’, remained a mystery.

 

When Adrien chewed on his spaghetti thoughtfully, eyes glued to the screen with the person that wasn’t Marinette and the clock that still kept on ticking, he allowed himself to focus on the taste of the noodles and meat in his mouth.

It tasted like sadness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! :) BTW: What did you think of Erik?


	9. A Brief Glance

* * *

  _ **A Brief Glance**_

* * *

 

_Flashback to dinner with Gabriel at 6pm_

Adrien checked himself one last time, already hearing the clicking of Natalie’s heels hitting the marbled floor of the Agreste mansion, making sure his hair was neatly combed and already ironed shirt sat straight.

The door opened and Natalie greeted him with a curt nod, “Welcome Adrien, your father is already waiting in the dining room.”

Adrien mustered a small smile, “Thanks Natalie.” The woman stepped aside to let him enter and Adrien sighed, taking in the hues of metal and white, “Hey, Natalie…”

“Yes, Adrien?”

“Does a color change fit into father’s schedule?” Natalie was already following Adrien’s line of sight and the normally strict and uptight woman allowed a small but sad smile to grace her lips.

“…I’m afraid not, Adrien.”

Adrien’s small smile still remained, but it was hollow, “I see.”

She cleared her throat, “…I’ll see what I can do without any guarantee. Follow me please.” Adrien stared at her back sympathetically as she led him to the familiar double doors across the hall.

He sometimes felt bad for Natalie, he knew the woman could be strict and uptight, but she had been the one who’d fought for his right to attend public school while he had been a teen. She had warmth, but it was deeply buried underneath a thick layer of professionalism. Adrien admired her, working for so long in such a cold environment and still having that small speck of warmth.

The double doors opened and Natalie excused herself, closing them again once Adrien was inside.

His father was sitting at the end of the long table and Adrien mentally asked himself why he still had such a large table when it was mostly reserved for one person, two occasionally or even four if Natalie and the gorilla, on very rare occasions, joined in.

Still, Adrien sat down beside his father, who was eating soup, Adrien’s own still steaming before him. It had a creamy, pale texture, either mushrooms or something else, “You’re punctual, Adrien.” His father’s words broke the silence like ice and Adrien began eating.

“As I always am, father.” His tone, he noticed, had changed again, into that slightly indifferent one he used whenever he stepped foot into the mansion.

Whenever he talked to his father.

His father hummed but that was the only response to his answer before he changed the subject, “I trust your day went well.”

The answer flowed easily from his lips, as if reciting a report, “I’ve been quite busy. Fencing lessons started in the morning and ended at 3pm, photoshoots with Chloe and Theo at 3:30pm until 5:30pm. Studying follows after dinner.”

Gabriel paused, as if taking in the information, information he knew since he coordinated his schedule, “How are Chloe and Theo doing? I believe they must be very busy with their rising popularities.”

Adrien refrained from making an undignified noise as snorting, he barely reined it in.

Barely.

“Chloe plans to visit her mother in New York for a few fashion events. Theo has modelled for a few Italian companies and got featured in several magazines.” The information that left his mouth barely registered to Adrien, his focus was on the bland soup he was swallowing.

He couldn’t deny enjoying the luxury of first class chefs in the Agreste kitchen, but their food at the restaurant made by Miss Cesaire was by far superior.

“I see.” Gabriel cleared his throat, “I noticed you cancelled a photoshoot scheduled for tomorrow.”

Adrien paused, trying to carefully word his next sentences, “The photoshoot takes place at the same time I have a test in physics, I rescheduled it for the afternoon.”

He could sense his father’s displeasure, he didn’t need to look at his face to know, not that he would read anything from the stone-like surface it seemed to transform into, “So, you still attend university lectures?”

Adrien’s grip on the spoon was a bit too tight, but he wouldn’t allow his emotions to get the better of him, “Yes, since attendance is obligatory.”

“Attendance is required for photoshoots as well.” Ah, that argument.

The young man finished his soup, which was immediately taken by a servant, before they were served their next course, grilled lamb, perfectly smooth mashed potatoes with a mysterious sauce.

Adrien mentally prepared himself for the direction their discussion, if one could call it that, was starting to take, he lifted his gaze from his plate for the first time this evening to look at his father, whose gaze still remained fixed on his food, “Photoshoots can easily be rescheduled, exams in university are difficult if not impossible to reschedule, especially for a single student.”

Gabriel’s brows furrowed slightly, “If you wish I can write a letter to the university and-“

“No.”

The noises of cutlery ceased completely and Gabriel finally lifted his head to look directly at his son. Adrien gathered his growing courage to repeat his answer, “No, thank you father. I already rescheduled the shoot, it’s fine.”

The fashion designer huffed and wiped at his mouth, “Perhaps for you, but I’m the one who needs to explain the reasons behind my son missing events.”

“Shall I do it? I have a computer, I have their e-mail address.”

“Adrien…”

The blond set his napkin next to his still full plate, “It’s not a problem, father. I can write a full page essay on how I prefer to focus on expanding my education in subjects I enjoy and am interested in and that I deeply apologize for the rescheduling of a photoshoot solely relying on my attendance to boost their popularity.”

“Watch your tongue, young man!” the hard edge in his father’s tone reminded Adrien of the rare times he tried arguing against him, mostly unsuccessfully, in his younger days.

But he wasn’t fifteen anymore.

He was an adult.

And he would _act_ like one for once.

With all the gracefulness and practiced calm of a model and an Agreste, Adrien rose from his seat and folded his napkin over his untouched food, “I apologize father, but I lost my appetite. Enjoy your meal.” He nodded once at his furious parent, before he finally left the suffocating, ice cold room.

And left his father sitting alone at the table.

Just like Adrien used to sit alone at that very same table in his youth.

When he opened the doors, Natalie was looking at him in concern, “Adrien-“

“Good night Natalie. Make sure you try the lamb, it’s delicious.” With those words, the young Agreste left the building he used to call home behind in confident strides.

And didn’t look back _once_.

* * *

 

Hearing Nino’s excited voice over the phone while walking towards the club filled Adrien with a sense of fulfillment he hadn’t experienced often, especially after a day like today and the dinner he had.

Nino had been right, it would do him good to go out and relax every once and a while.

Adrien frowned when he thought of the restaurant, feeling bad for going earlier than he usually did. Pierre said it was alright, but it still left a sour aftertaste in his mouth.

Perhaps he could work a few extra hours tomorrow to make up for today, if he was out until ten with Nino and Alya, he could still study for two-three hours until he had to go to sleep.

_A little while later at the club_

“ _Dude!_ You _came_!” Nino’s body migrated towards his best friend immediately upon spotting the blond tuft of hair in the crowd, arms wrapped around the model like a monkey.

In hindsight, he supposed it sounded sad, but being hugged by Nino felt infinitely better than the last time he had been hugged by his father. Adrien returned the hug gladly.

“ _Ahem_ , if you boys are done swooning over each-other.” A playful female voice sounded from behind Nino and the two men broke apart.

Nino grinned sheepishly, placing an arm on the shoulder of a stunning dark-skinned woman with auburn hair and glasses, dressed in a stylish dark purple one suit which could pass for a shorter cocktail dress, “Ah, sorry, Adrien meet Alya Cesaire, to-be-worldwide famous reporter, already famous blogger and amazing girlfriend.” He grinned at the blond, “Alya, meet number one model and awkward sunshine boy Adrien Agreste!”

He rose an eyebrow at the ‘awkward’ part, to which Nino chuckled at his friend’s reaction.

Alya smirked at her boyfriend’s description, smoothing down his bowtie, “Thank you Nino.” She turned her attention to Adrien, holding a hand out, “Hi Adrien, welcome to the club!” she smiled brilliantly and Adrien returned the smile full force, shaking her hand.

“Thanks Alya, the pleasure is all mine! It’s nice finally meeting you after hearing all these wonderful things about you from Nino.” He locked gazes with his DJ friend, who rubbed at his head in embarrassment.

Alya crossed her arms, “I surely do hope there were only good things.” She winked, laughing at her boyfriend’s reaction and the two males soon joined in.

They talked and drank for a while, catching up and getting to know each-other. Adrien found out she ran the famous blog he heard about here and there, he was glad to know she was also promoting Nino as a DJ, which helped boost his popularity. Their relationship dynamic also intrigued him, they were playfully bantering and bickering but the soft, loving looks in their eyes were undeniably.

Adrien had to drink and turn his head a few times when he noticed their heads were leaning a bit too close to each-other, but otherwise they were very cool.

He also got to hear Nino letting loose and rapping onstage, he hadn’t heard Nino rap in ages, since Dupont, while good back then, it was nothing like it was now. Now he really did deserve the title of prodigy DJ, even complicated, longer words effortlessly flowed out of his mouth in quick, smooth tones and the lyrics were cleverly put together and sent a powerful message.

He suspected Alya had a hand or at least was a partial inspiration, if the proud look and loud cheering were any indication.

Adrien couldn’t remember the last time he was so loud, he could shout as loud as he wanted, there were always people louder than him here in the crowded club.

It was liberating, being so casual. His green dress shirt was slightly in disarray, the first button open, collar slightly loose, hair a bit messier.

But nobody cared and Adrien reveled in the non-attention he was getting.

He felt free.

Still, Adrien couldn’t shake off the feeling like he was forgetting something.

* * *

 

Marinette couldn’t remember the last time she ran in the short heels without tripping, but now she was, at full speed towards the bustling restaurant.

It wasn’t that late, maybe Chat Noir was still there. She wanted to ask him to meet her again tomorrow, maybe the odd feeling she had earlier would go away little by little the more time she spent with him outside the restaurant.

Maybe she was just nervous, he was a good looking man, not quite what she expected, for some reason, she imagined him to have blond hair or at least more on the lighter side.

She sighed, looking left and right for incoming cars as her legs carried her across the street towards the building.

Marinette entered with a huff, panting heavily and muttering apologies when she nearly ran into a few customers on the way to the receptionist desk, which was occupied by the elder butler again.

He offered her a welcoming smile and a polite nod and Marinette returned his gestures, “Good evening! Is there still room for one?” she meekly looked around the full establishment.

Pierre chuckled and grabbed the menu card, “Of course, if you would follow me miss.” He gestured for her to follow and she did without question, feeling relief washing over her when her usual seat was empty.

Thank god.

Marinette felt another wave of relief when she sat down, her tired legs screaming at her to take a rest after the hard day she had.

When Pierre handed her the menu, she wanted to worship the ground he walked on.

While he moved away to get her a glass of water, Marinette scanned the menu, feeing giddy to talk to Chat Noir again.

When Pierre came back with only her glass of water but no black toy, Marinette hesitantly spoke up, “Um…excuse me, but…is…is the cat not available tonight?” she swore she hadn’t seen Chat Noir’s toy anywhere else in the seats.

Not that she’d been looking.

The elder man frowned slightly, hands clasped to his front apologetically, “My apologies but the black cat is not in service for tonight I’m afraid, would you prefer a different one?”

Sadness hit Marinette like a wave, but she forced on a bright smile, “No, no, thank you very much! Um, I’ll take the potato soup and the noodles with chicken and vegetables.” Pierre nodded and bowed briefly before leaving with her order.

Marinette sighed, her tired form slumping back to rest against the cushioning of her seat, staring up at the ceiling.

She was so excited to talk to Chat Noir again! She wanted to know more about art therapy and how it helped people and what his relationship was like with his students!

Another long drawn out sigh left her lips and Marinette tried hard to ignore the ache in her heart.

She felt a bit bad for cancelling the night out Alya had called her for, but she was too tired to go clubbing now anyway, she still needed to work on that paper that was due in two weeks.

Still, it would’ve been nice to eat with the cute green eyes staring at her and the soothing, boyish voice keeping her company with cat puns.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the short chapter! I hope it’s still okay! Thanks everyone for reading, I hope some people still follow this. :3


	10. A Clawful Plan & A Pawssibly Good Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, thank you all so much for the kudos and comments! I was really glad when I read and saw them, it made my day! :) I hope this chapters gives you a bit of joy :3

* * *

 

_**A Clawful Plan & A Pawssibly Good Day** _

* * *

 

Plagg quietly sipped at his coffee the next morning, idly watching Pierre set down the chairs for the morning hours when the restaurant would open for business.

His voice seemed loud in the emptiness of the large space and the lack of the usual talk of the crowd and bustling kitchen, “Did Adrien say when he would be back today?”

The chair scraped slightly against the floor and Pierre pushed it under the table neatly, a sigh escaping him, “He said to expect him just before-“

The doors opened as if on cue and the blond himself walked in, hoodie pulled down deeper to cover his face, hair messy, “Hello Pierre, Plagg.” Adrien moved the protective cover of the hoodie away from his face, smiling tiredly at his friends, “I’m sorry for being late, had late night shoots yesterday and an exam earlier this morning.” He didn’t have any eyebags, he couldn’t allow himself to, being a model, but Plagg could definitely see the exhaustion in that green stare.

“Why don’t ya take the day off? It’s a Wednesday.” Wednesdays were reserved for Adrien to freely study for university if his schedules called for it, like upcoming exams or catching up with lost lectures or attend events his father forced him to go to.

Adrien rubbed his chin, resting his hand on his hip and Plagg snickered at the model pose, “Wednesdays are always so full of customers, are you guys going to be alright?” he scratched the back of his head, a sign he was uncomfortable with ditching work.

Pierre offered a kind smile, “Of course, you don’t have to worry at all Adrien. Just make sure to keep up with your studies and don’t forget to rest too.”

Adrien smiled at the elder man, bowing slightly in gratitude, “Thank you Pierre.” He looked at Plagg, who was watching him curiously, “Plagg, don’t trash the VA room again, please.”

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes playfully, “Yeah, yeah, mom don’t worry. Now shoo and go before I change my mind and sit your ass down here.” Plagg was about to take a sip of his coffee before an arm planted itself around his shoulders abruptly and a hand roughly ruffled his already messy raven hair.

“Thanks Plagg, Pierre! You guys are the best!” with a smile to Pierre, the blond raced out of the restaurant, leather bag filled with today’s lecture papers.

Pierre chuckled at the dark, murderous frown on Plagg’s face, “Shut it old man.”

Pierre’s expression changed drastically, a brief flicker of something more sinister shining in those old, brown eyes, “Excuse me, Plagg?”

The raven haired man stiffened, “A-Apologies sir!”

The old butler nodded approvingly, his usual friendly disposition in place and Plagg sighed in relief, sagging further into his seat, muttering about secret demon butlers and pesky blonds.

His phone vibrated with a new message and he lazily took it out, quickly typing in the password and opening the messages.

They were from Tikki.

_‘Good morning stinky sock! I hope the cheese cake I made you yesterday was alright. Have a nice day at work, catch you for lunch tomcat!’_

A heartwarming smile softened his normally sharp features, Pierre discreetly watching the man’s lips transform into a gentle smile as he typed a reply.

‘ _Morning, sugar cube. Of course it was, it was purrfect. Don’t overwork yourself either today, I’ll wait for you with lunch outside the shop.’_

Adding a silly emoji at the end, Plagg sent his message taking another sip of his coffee.

For some reason, it tasted sweeter.

* * *

 

Marinette stubbed her toe against the desk, cursing under her breath and Nathaniel paused in his sketch to look over his shoulder curiously, a sympathetic smile on his lips, “You okay?”

The dark haired woman sighed, slumping back onto her chair, “Fine…”

Nathaniel set his pencil down and turned towards his friend completely, “Sure? You don’t look that fine to me. When did you go to sleep?” he had always had an eye for detail, ever since his childhood days where he first began to draw every day. It also meant he nearly always picked up on miniscule details other people failed to notice.

As often as Marinette wore very little to no make-up, today she had applied a thicker layer under her eyes, which blended into her skin tone to hide the dark eyebags.

Marinette should’ve known Nathaniel knew better, she gingerly touched the smooth skin beneath her eye, “That obvious?” she offered a tired smile and Nathaniel shook his head.

“To me, yes, but not to others.” His small smile stretched into a concerned frown, “Seriously, what’s up? You’ve been on edge lately. We made the deal with that model and the fashion event is only a few days away, I would be relaxed in your stead.” The red-head crossed his arms, carefully observing the woman before him who wrung her hands in her lap nervously before her.

A drawn out sigh and a groan followed her next words, “I _know_ but-! Argh!” she threw her hands in the air, standing up and pacing back and forth in a line, hands gesticulating wildly, “Have you ever met a person you thought was really funny and kind and interesting but like, you don’t know them all too well and you suddenly see a different side to them that you didn’t expect and you don’t _like_ that side of them and you feel really helpless and frustrated?!” Marinette still continued to pace before hands clasped onto her shoulders and Nathaniel gently grabbed her attention by turning her towards him.

“Hey, easy, stop trying to walk holes into our floor.” Nathaniel soothingly squeezed her shoulders again, “I…I guess I can relate to what you’re saying Marinette.” The surprised look she gave him made the professor chuckle, “Remember Chloe? I used to have a bit of a crush on her in primary school, until she started with that bullying anyway. That went away pretty fast. I mean, I don’t really think it’s the same as your situation, but I can relate with the liking someone and not liking certain aspects of them thing. It’s natural.” He shrugged, noticing her calming down slowly, “…Want some coffee?”

Slumping her shoulders, Marinette nodded and Nathaniel led her toward the kitchen, setting up fresh coffee while Marinette slowly started talking about the restaurant she frequented in her breaks.

Once both steaming coffee mugs were in front of them, along with a cookie plate inbetween, did Nathaniel stare at the woman in bewilderment, “W-Wait…you…you’re saying there’s…a _toy?”_ Nathaniel still tried to wrap his head around the quick explanation Marinette had given him, about her recent behavior, her extended breaks, _everything_. “And…there’s a _guy_ voicing that toy and you…started liking him?” Nathaniel rubbed at his chest, feeling a stinging sensation there, but he tried to curb it.

Marinette, pink faced, slowly nodded, “I mean, maybe ‘liking’ is a bit strong, I mean, he’s really nice and funny! I like his puns! And he keeps me company while I eat, he’s easy to talk to and get along with and well, I don’t know! I l-like his voice okay!?” Marinette slapped her hands to her face, the tips of her ears a beet red and Nathaniel burst into laughter at her shy reaction, “S-Stop laughing! I’ll demote you!” the threat was empty, but it sounded adorable coming from her red face.

Nathaniel coughed a few times, trying to hold in the chuckles trying to come out, before he took a sip of his coffee and it finally died down, “So…you like his voice, huh?” Nathaniel adjusted the collar of his shirt, feeling slight embarrassment bubbling within his own chest at how cute Marinette reacted.

“ _Ugh, Nath!_ ” Marinette looked ready to spontaneously combust or throw something at him, “It’s-I-I mean- it’s not like I-“ she backtracked, eyes blown wide, elbows planted on the table and hiding her eyes, “Uhm…I…actually _did_ see him.”

The professor’s eyes flew open, leaning forward over the table, “Wait, what? You did? _When?_ How comes you didn’t tell me?” he tried pinpointing when it could’ve possibly been, maybe the time she visited him? But that meant she saw him on campus and that was highly impo-

“I-I met him after your lectures…I kinda bumped into him in the hallway…”

Nathaniel choked.

“What does he look like? What’s his name?” alright, maybe Nathaniel was getting too excited to know this guy, but he definitely wanted the best for her, even if it meant throwing his own infatuation out of the window.

He tried ignoring the prickly, painful sensations in his heart.

“H-His name’s Erik, he’s a bit taller than me, messy dark hair, he likes to joke around and um, he teaches art psychology or uh, art therapy in your university.”

Nathaniel’s body froze and his blood ran cold.

Images conjured up in his mind.

Memories of the past two years of him working as a professor to be exact.

And _him._

_‘Yo, Kurtzberg, playing with colors again? You’ve got something there on your cheek.’_

_‘Hey tomato-head, cooped up alone in that room, doesn’t that drive you up the wall? Go out and have some fun, maybe you’ll get some friends along the way!’_

“Nathaniel?” Marinette rose an eyebrow at the vacant stare he seemed to have set on a fixed point on the table and she waved her hand.

_‘Heh, this looks like a bird shit on it, if I have to guess what’s on your mind, I think the answer stays the same dontcha think?’_

_‘Most artists only dream of being able to tell what art truly means like us therapists, it’s a shame you chose the weaker craft of the two.’_

“Nathaniel? Hey! Earth to Nathaniel!” the man jumped, as if ripped from his own thoughts, wide eyes looking at her.

“Uh, s-sorry, I-uh, got lost in thoughts.” He scratched his head, ruffling his already messy hair.

Marinette noticed the familiar almost haunted look in his eyes, it reminded her of her younger days when she used to be bullied in school. Her hand reached across the table and settled lightly over his fist, “Does he treat you badly at work?”

She had a hunch, but she couldn’t picture it. It didn’t fit together, the picture she had of Chat Noir when she was in the restaurant and when she met him at campus.

Maybe she was wrong, after all.

Nathaniel smiled weakly, “Don’t worry, I tell him off politely whenever he tries to act all alpha male on me. I’ve learned a thing or two following high school.” He winked reassuringly, and patted Marinette’s hand closed over his fist, “It’s just, I always had bad vibes about him, before he started being a jerk to me. He just spells trouble.” He noticed the conflicted look on her face, “But don’t let my personal judgement influence your own, if you say he acts differently in the restaurant, maybe the jerk behavior is just an act? Maybe it’s just me.”

At that, Marinette immediately shook her head, “No! Don’t think that for a second! I don’t know what it is but I’ll find out, he can’t treat any of my friends that way if…if I really do end up liking him that much.” She looked unsure of herself and Nathaniel hated seeing her like that.

He squeezed her hand reassuringly, “I wouldn’t worry too much Marinette, if he likes you, he will realize what a mistake it is in letting you go.”

Marinette flushed, smiling warmly at him, “Thanks Nath, I can always count on you to cheer me up when I need it.” She grinned awkwardly, “Well, except Alya as your female counterpart.”

Nathaniel smiled.

* * *

 

Adrien almost groaned in bliss at the explosion in his mouth, the delicious pastry from the bakery he grabbed on the way felt like the first taste of heaven after enduring weeks of hell.

He was on his way to catch up on his studies at Nino’s place, before getting ready for the fashion event later this afternoon, he had enough time to pour over the new materials his professor gave him before he had to drive towards the address for the fashion event, of course hosted by Agreste Fashion, with a model wearing a dress made a growing designer. He hadn’t caught the designer’s name, but according to conversations he overheard, the designer must be good at their craft with decent production time.

He hoped to get breaks in-between, he hadn’t eaten much except for the pastry and a small breakfast in the morning before the exam. He bet Nino had some leftovers from yesterday, maybe even something edible in the fridge.

Nino was a surprisingly good cook, courtesy of Nora who loved and treated him like he was her very own little brother since his and Alya’s high school days. Nino mentioned Nora being a bit of a tough nut, instead of showering him with affection, she usually showered him with ‘tough love’ when she visited, whatever that meant.

Adrien smiled when he spotted the building Nino’s apartment was in, he also remembered the very stunned look the DJ gave him when he humbly asked to temporarily share living quarters.

_‘Sure dude, you know you’re always welcome, but what happened? Did you lose your apartment? Did your dad piss you off?’_

As probable as the last possibility was, Adrien had explained what the true reason was, his apartment was empty.

Not furniture-wise.

It lacked _warmth._

It lacked everything a room with people living in it should have, warmth, personal belongings, trinkets that were useless or not that pretty but were still held dear.

Trivial things that made his father scrunch his nose.

Trivial things that made Adrien smile because they reminded him of his mother, when she would take little trinkets and souvenirs from places she would visit for her roles and bring back with her.

Adrien himself didn’t have much, not many personal things, the things he recently got that were closer to his heart were pictures of him and Nino. Those were already in his apartment, one in a frame, the other clipped to a piece of string he remembered seeing in Nino’s house all those years ago, when they were still teens. It inspired him to do something similar, it felt so personal, so real.

For now, only Nino’s picture hung there, they also made a few pictures with Alya at the club as a memory, those would come there too.

Adrien hoped many more would come. Maybe even some with a certain dark haired woman with bluebell eyes.

He took out the spare keys Nino gave him, quickly unlocking the front door and jogging up the stairs before finding the door to Nino’s apartment already unlocked.

Was Nino home?

Adrien pushed the door open, stepping in and setting the keys in a bowl near the doorway, taking his shoes off, “Nino?” he called out, already smelling something delicious wafting in from the kitchen.

“M’ here dude!” the boisterous voice of his friend called back and a small smile lit Adrien’s entire face as he made his way towards the kitchen.

The rooms were small, but enough for one, or two to comfortably live in.

Nino was sitting at the kitchen table, steaming plate in front of him, fork rolling around in the sea of noodles, vegetables and sauce, “Hey man, grab a plate and join me, you haven’t eaten anything much, right?”

The blond snorted softly, shaking his head as he fixed himself a plate and glass of water, “It’s scary how well you know me after all those years.”

The DJ grinned boyishly, gently punching his friend in the shoulder, “Once a model, always a model, huh?”

Adrien chuckled, “Once a friend, always a friend.” Nino’s teasing expression softened, and he nodded immediately, both men chuckling.

“I thought you were in the studio practicing for that gig you were hired for?” Adrien had to admit, even if Nino was nowhere near Marlena’s caliber of cooking, the food was still good.

He wolfed down the veggies and noodles when Nino started talking, “I was, in the morning though. It’s already two in the afternoon, don’t tell me you forgot how to read the clock?”

Adrien rolled his eyes playfully, “I forgot the time, it flew by so fast after that exam, I was just rushing from one point to the next.” Nino spotted the leather bag set on the couch in the connected living room, frowning in concern.

“Aw man, you still gotta study, huh?”

The blond shrugged, swallowing down the noodles, “Yeah, but I should be done in no time. It’s not that much, besides I still need to get ready for that event today, so I’ll go over to my apartment to prepare. I think I’ll sleep there too, so don’t stay up late okay?”

Nino huffed, taking a big gulp of water, “Whatever you say, mom. Just drive safe and don’t drink too much, young man.” Nino imitated the voice of an old woman and both men, despite themselves, burst out laughing at their silly antics.

Adrien enjoyed these things.

Whenever he entered Nino’s apartment, it always reminded him of home, or the closest thing he could associate to it. It reminded him of their school days and strong friendship and what a good man Nino was.

The two men continued eating and chatting and laughing, even after half an hour went by, Adrien felt at ease, the papers in his bag temporarily forgotten, the fashion event forgotten.

All that mattered was the food, his friend, the atmosphere.

It smelled – it _felt_ – like home.

* * *

 

Erik strolled across campus leisurely, scanning his schedule for his next class, when he spotted the familiar sight of a certain dark haired woman in the distance.

A grin automatically stretched his lips and he waved to catch her attention, “Marinette! Hey!”

The woman jumped, surprised by the call before she relaxed upon noticing him and waving back.

Erik walked up to her and smiled down at her, “Hey, visiting tom-uh Nathaniel again?”

Marinette smiled, “Hey Erik. Yeah, I just wanted to go over a few things concerning work, I won’t be a bother for too long.” Erik looked around, that explained why she waited near his office too.

Erik planted his hands in his pockets, “I see. So, you don’t have some time today, huh?”

She flashed him an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry, I don’t. I have to help organize a fashion event and help dress the models.”

His interest peaked at the word ‘models’, “Models, huh? Mind if I watch?” the grin on his face was positively feral, but the look in Marinette’s eyes hardened to steel.

“Watch?” she rose an eyebrow and Erik backtracked quickly.

“You know, your work, how you work.” He cleared his throat, “Anyway, I may not make it actually, I have classes starting soon until late. See ya tomorrow, purrhaps?”

A smile made its way on the frown previously marring her pretty features and Marinette nodded, “Sure. Good luck on your lectures!”

“Yeah, you too!” he waved and moved towards the long stairs ahead.

Marinette sighed, rubbing her arm.

* * *

 

_A few hours later…_

Flashing lights, clicking heels and painted faces greeted Marinette as soon as she entered.

Paparazzi, bodyguards and models as far as the eye can see.

There were so _many_ people.

She took a breath, before carrying her designs and bag with designing tools towards the changing areas. It didn’t take her long at all to spot a model, or several of them.

Most were doing their make-up, chatting or doing pep talks. Marinette couldn’t fault them for it, she would be a jittery, nervous mess if she would’ve even have to _imagine_ stepping foot onto a catwalk, or anywhere where hundreds of eyes would be on her.

She wasn’t good in the spotlight.

After greeting and going over the minor details and major parts of the show, Marinette helped them put on the dresses she designed, feeling at the same time odd but comfortable, handling something that was _hers_ , her very own work in her hands, and helping models put them on, adjusting things and offering advice.

It felt liberating but also frightening, like an otherworldly experience.

Marinette wasn’t new to fashion nor to handling fabrics or designs, but she _was_ new to this; the spotlights, the flashing cameras, the crowded fashion galas with hundreds of models running up and down looking for their agents, bodyguards or organizers.

She smiled kindly when another model thanked her for her help in braiding her hair, it wasn’t part of the job, but she would help wherever she could if it meant easing the anxious looks on the young women’s faces.

She wasn’t much older than them and yet, she felt obligated to keep them as comfortable and relaxed as possible under these circumstances.

Some models were seasoned experts, doing breathing exercises or small, personal rituals. Some were tracing patterns on their hands to calm themselves, others were looking in the mirror and silently encouraging themselves, some were chatting with others while again others were drinking juices or water to distract them from the big event which would open any minute.

It was almost time to shine.

Marinette excused herself from the changing rooms, making sure the models were taken care of before she stepped out.

The large, luxurious ballroom was filled to the brim with people. Some were already sitting, looking like they belonged to the VIPs or high end people who would asses the event. Others in suits were chatting amongst themselves near the buffet, people with cameras were keeping a low profile and trying to discreetly take pictures without disturbing the guests too much.

Marinette was glad she had the pass around her neck, people would mistake her for some lost woman who accidentally stumbled into this fine establishment and not a semi-respected designer whose work was about to be put up on stage.

She took a deep, staggering breath, accepting a glass of orange juice from a waiter who was parading around with a plate full of champagne and orange juice glasses.

She gulped the liquid down in nearly one go, frayed nerves still breaking at the seams, but at least she was sure she was hydrated.

Marinette decided to mingle about the crowd, greeting a few other designers she’d met a handful of times, but otherwise keeping to herself.

Due to so many people, there wasn’t much room for individual people to really distance themselves from the crowd. It was inevitable to hear some private conversations.

Marinette pretended to enjoy the ambience while subtly listening in on any remotely interesting conversation topics.

She spotted a group of male models a few steps away, talking, some chuckling. Almost all of them had bathrobes on, they would obviously come up on stage later, after the female models were done with their performances.

As Marinette tried to slip past the group of males, back towards the changing rooms to check on her models, she nearly tripped over her own feet when a particular voice caught her attention.

She was sure she wasn’t imagining it, but when she turned around, there were several models talking, it was impossible to say which voice belonged to whom. There was a blond with green eyes, a brunet with blue eyes, several black haired guys with brown eyes.

But there was only one name that hit her like a lightning bolt when she heard a familiar voice sound from among the group.

_Chat Noir?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you enjoyed it :3 BTW: Is the plot advancing too fast? Tell me your thoughts!


	11. A Purrplexing Encounter

* * *

 

_**A Purrplexing Encounter** _

* * *

 

_Previously on “Dinner for Two”…_

_She spotted a group of male models a few steps away, talking, some chuckling. Almost all of them had bathrobes on, they would obviously come up on stage later, after the female models were done with their performances._

_As Marinette tried to slip past the group of males, back towards the changing rooms to check on her models, she nearly tripped over her own feet when a particular voice caught her attention._

_She was sure she wasn’t imagining it, but when she turned around, there were several models talking, it was impossible to say which voice belonged to whom. There was a blond with green eyes, a brunet with blue eyes, several black haired guys with brown eyes._

_But there was only one name that hit her like a lightning bolt when she heard a familiar voice sound from among the group._

_Chat Noir?_

Adrien swore he saw something black, almost dark blue pass by his field of vision. It was such a precise shade that it always made him think of a certain woman whenever he saw that color anywhere.

Despite the chatter among the other models, he expertly tuned them out and whipped his head this way and that, heart racing a mile a minute.

He could’ve _sworn_ he saw-

“Hey, Agreste.”

Adrien turned back towards the group of models, staring at him with smug or knowing looks, “You look like you saw someone interestin’, which model caught your eye, hmm?” Reno, a tall brunet with sun-kissed skin and hazel eyes he labeled as ‘wild’ nudged his side teasingly, “Bet it was that blonde with the cute ass.” A few amused chuckles rose from the other models, seemingly agreeing.

Amand, a tall French man with pale blond hair and cold blue eyes snorted in disgust, “Show some respect, you’re a guest here, _American._ ” Reno rose an eyebrow at the stoic man, not taking kindly to him being spoken to like that.

“Did those snails you had for dinner finally crawl outta your ass, _Amanda_?” Reno and Amand looked ready to quarrel but Adrien placed a placating hand on Reno’s shoulder.

“Hey, let’s not fight, this is neither the time nor the place.” Adrien caught Amand’s gaze and the man turned his nose, making the blond turn his attention back to Reno, “Uh, to answer your question, I just thought I saw somebody I knew.”

Reno seemed to calm down, “Ah, I see. Sorry for assuming, buddy.” Adrien shook his head, offering the brunet a smile before he excused himself to get a glass to drink. The tension among the males was more than he was willing to bear with tonight, especially considering the hectic day he had. He didn’t need a physical fight to break out, especially not with all those paparazzi and his father’s bodyguards mingling about.

He could already picture the headlines.

_‘Adrien Agreste, France’s sunshine model involved in a brawl among model peers!’_

_‘Agreste Junior rebelling against fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste by picking fights at fashion gala! Stay tuned!’_

He shook his head, smiling as he grabbed a fresh glass of orange juice to drink from, he’d had enough of champagne for tonight.

He observed the people around him, offering respectful nods to important ones he’d already met along the way. He saw a forming line of the female models being set into a neat line, a person zipping this way and that behind them. He couldn’t quite see who it was, maybe it was the designer of the dresses and the suit he was going to wear tonight. He definitely wanted to meet the man as talented in their craft, it was well-made, fit him perfectly and wore itself like PJ’s, it was comfortable but looked very sharp and professional to the public eye.

He expertly slipped through the crowd, setting his now empty glass on a tray a waiter was carrying, he felt silly meeting people in a bathrobe, but he’d gotten used to it in this scene.

His gaze narrowed at the constantly moving figure behind the models, trying to make out features of the person. Did they have dark hair?

Wait, were those pigtails?

Adrien froze on the spot, a few feet away, when the person behind the models suddenly slipped through between the two standing women, applying finishing touches to the models and encouraging them to do their best.

The designer was a _her_ , dressed in well-fitted dark pants, short heels, black blazer with a crème colored dress shirt beneath.

She had bluebell eyes, adorable freckles, cute face, and that _smile-_

 _‘Marinette!’_ Adrien’s eyes flew open and he quickly dived back into the crowd before she saw him. His body was on autopilot, he was panicking.

What should he _do?_

She was _here._

_SHE WAS HERE!_

And he was in a _bathrobe!_

Who did he anger to give him such rotten luck?! Couldn’t he appear sophisticated in front of her?! He should’ve listened to Plagg, Plagg was right, bathrobes were stupid, they served no purpose except look fluffy.

At this point, wearing a cat onesie would’ve been infinitely more preferable than this.

He could do this.

He was a model.

Adrien quickly ran a hand through his hair, trying to comb through it neatly and adjusting the collar of the bathrobe, knowing it was useless. At least the robe was pretty enough.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien straightened himself and set his shoulders, attempting to appear graceful but powerful.

Marinette was smiling and encouragingly patting the models on their shoulders, giving them a thumbs up as they ascended the stairs to the catwalk.

He was a _goner._

She was too _adorable._

He was a _mess_.

He _wasn’t_ powerful, he wasn’t _graceful_. He was a kitten on shaking paws ready to bolt the minute this cute mouse turned around and spotted him.

As if reading his thoughts, Marinette turned away from the models and suddenly rounded in his general direction.

The blond froze like an ice cube, hands stiffened to his sides and eyes blown wide open like a frightened cat.

Marinette was heading towards him.

She was _walking towards him._

Her _eyes_ were on him.

They were such a purrty shade of blue-

“Excuse me!”

Adrien released a yelp, it sounded like a high pitched mewl and a frightened gasp, and Marinette looked up at him, “Um, excuse me, I need to get to the buffet really quickly.”

Mind going into overdrive, Adrien hastily made room, accidentally pushing against some VIP man’s back and causing him to choke on his champagne, “S-Sorry!”

She smiled brilliantly at him, brighter than the flashlights, “It’s okay! Thank you!” before she rushed passed and towards the long table of food.

Adrien gripped his heart, it was racing as fast as a freight train. Maybe it were the first warning symptoms of a heart attack? Should he see a doctor?

It was when Marinette, again, rushed passed him with food in her hands that his eyes regained focus.

She didn’t take the food for herself, but for one of the models.

A woman was on the floor, hyperventilating, breathing too quickly and looking distressed when Marinette reached her.

Adrien’s earlier embarrassment melted away when his feet carried him over to the model, crouching down next to her and feeling her forehead for a fever, “Breathe, take short breaths in and deep breaths out, 1, 2, 1, 2.” The model nodded, doing as she was told, recognizing Adrien and squeezing his hand so tightly he thought it would break, “Release. That’s good, keep it up Alicia.” Alicia nodded again, too frightened to speak.

His fellow colleagues joined the scene as well, Reno helping the woman stand and directing her towards a chair near the buffet area, Amand and the rest moved along to help, the fruits Marinette had brought was taken to be given to the model later.

The woman beside him released a long drawn out sigh, “Oh god, this is all my fault, I didn’t pay attention enough to see she didn’t eat anything.”

Much of Adrien’s earlier embarrassment was forgotten temporarily, his voice calm and very soft, “It’s not your fault, models have a way with hiding the fact they hadn’t eaten anything. She’s still young, so she didn’t eat enough to keep herself level headed before getting on the catwalk. Younger models often underestimate for how long their bodies can survive without food, under the heat of the overhead lights and the constant flashes of the camera.” His lips set into a grim line, “Trust me, you did a good job, her manager will take care to switch up her nutritional plan again.”

He looked down at her and Marinette was smiling up at him, relief washing over her tired features, “Thank you. For helping and reassuring me.” She bowed briefly and Adrien’s heart skipped a beat.

“Uh, s-sure, no purrblem.” The second the word left his lips he mentally cursed himself, catching Marinette’s surprised look before he coughed into his hand violently, “Prrrhh, ahem, sorry, seems like that champagne was too much.”

Marinette giggled, settling a hand on his shoulder and Adrien had to summon all of his willpower _not_ to jump, “I can relate, I’m not the champagne type myself.” She watched the rest of the models go onto the catwalk, the room diminishing and all lights hitting the models, “Oh, excuse me, I need to get to the seats.”

Adrien watched her rush towards the assembly of chairs, positioned right in front of the catwalk where the models were posing and walking, most wearing her designs.

Adrien clutched at his heart.

* * *

 

Marinette tried keeping her attention on the show, but she discreetly glanced to the side every few minutes, watching the blond model with the green eyes walking towards the buffet to check up on the woman.

She was sure she was hallucinating, delirious, maybe drunk, maybe overworked, maybe both.

That model had a similar voice to Chat Noir, it was softer, lighter, but there was an uncanny resemblance to it.

She sighed, shaking her head. It wasn’t impossible. Voices were different. People could have similar voices. They could also have very different voices.

Besides, what are the odds that the man she sort of liked was funny, witty, kind _and_ a _model_?

She wasn’t that lucky, after all.

* * *

 

A figure leaned against the wall of the building, watching the switching, flashing lights through the large glass windows curiously.

He checked his watch.

_9.40pm_

It was too soon.

He still had to wait.

It had only been a week, he needed more information, more time.

An invite.

With a small smile, the young man shoved his hands in his pockets, a wide grin stretching his lips in the dying light of the flickering street lamp.

* * *

 

_The next morning_

“Ugh, Alya, I’m beat!” Marinette tiredly grabbed the steaming mug in her hands, the dark, bitter liquid reflecting the saggy bags beneath her eyes.

The reporter, already dressed for work, finished the last of her own coffee, quickly washing it in the sink and grabbing an apple, “Yeah, I bet, after that fashion gala last night. How was it? I saw it on TV but its always juicier hearing it from an insider.” Her eyes were alight with mischief and excitement and Marinette giggled.

“Well, as excited as you can imagine. I was just running from point A to point B really, helping the models, grabbing something to eat in-between, they had such good food, talking with other designers and mostly agents and yeah…I guess that was it.” She yawned, craning her neck, “A model also got really sick, she hadn’t eaten anything before getting ready to go onstage, thankfully a male model stepped in to help me.”

The reporter was leaned over the table in a millisecond, “ _Male_ model?” she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Marinette frowned, _“Alya.”_

“What? Don’t go looking at me like that girl! I’m happy you transitioned from cat to _man_!” she grinned like the cat that got the canary and Marinette wished she had more active braincells to effectively deal with her better.

“It’s not what you think, he just helped the girl out. We exchanged a few words and that’s it.” After a long pause and a sip, Marinette shrugged, “…He was cute, though.”

“ _I knew it!”_ Marinette waved her off tiredly, groaning when Alya did a little victory dance on her chair, “I _knew_ you’d one day use the connections your job gave you! Finally you’re going to ogle handsome models instead of stuffed toys!” she crossed her arms, a smug smirk adorning her painted lips and her friend gave her the finger playfully, “Not nice, girl, not nice.”

Marinette lowered her hand, taking another larger gulp of her beverage, “Not nice assuming things, Alya. It’s not like I never saw a model in my life, you know. It’s just, he was the only one of the models to immediately help, the others were too busy drinking and laughing. I guess not all beautiful people have money in their hearts.”

The auburn haired woman snorted, taking another bite of the apple, “What are the chances of you seeing him again?”

“I don’t even know his name!”

“Well, what did he look like for starters? We can already check ‘six-pack’ and ‘chiseled jaw’ I’m sure.” The foxy grin on her face didn’t make Marinette’s headache go away, it only slowed the departure.

“Tall, blond hair, green eyes, kind smile.” She paused, remembering his voice, “He….he kind of reminded me of Chat Noir though.”

The half-eaten apple bumped against Marinette’s mug and Alya hastily grabbed it back, cradling it in her shaking hands, “W-what?! Girl, no! Stop that! Bad Marinette! Stop imaging Chat Noir in everyone! Do I look like I have whiskers?! How many?” her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she stuck her tongue out.

An exaggerated eyeroll, “I’m not, I swear! It’s just…his voice wasn’t exactly like his, it was softer and a bit lighter, but it was close enough.” She laid her forehead against the table, sighing, “Maybe I imagined it, I didn’t sleep all that good and worked late for those dresses.”

Alya snorted, “Right you did, you should take the day off, Jul and Rose can take over for today.” An idea popped into her head suddenly, “Hey, wait, I thought you found your mystery cat. Didn’t you say that professor guy was Chat Noir?”

A miserable frown marred the designer’s face and she gently hit her forehead against the table in frustration, “I’m not even sure what I found, Alya. Erik’s…alright, I guess. It’s just, he constantly makes fun of Nath and I don’t like that. He acts different than when we’re in the restaurant.”

“Maybe it’s a thing between professors? They do study in similar fields.” Alya shrugged.

Marinette huffed, “That’s what I thought too, but Nathaniel had that haunted, ‘that guy harassed me’ look about him when I mentioned his name. They really don’t get along at all.” She pushed aside her coffee and rested her chin against her propped up hands miserably, “Maybe I should drop it, maybe I was wrong about Chat, after all.”

Alya’s brow shot to her hairline, “What?! You can’t be serious, Marinette! You’ve talked about that guy for the last weeks! You’re totally smitten!”

“But what if I misjudged his character? What if he’s actually a jerk? I can’t date or like someone like that.” She pouted, looking truly conflicted. Alya hated seeing her like that.

The reporter stood up from her seat and walked around her kitchen table, wrapping an arm around her best friend reassuringly, “Hey, don’t be like that, I’m sure it’s all just a big misunderstanding.” She rubbed her cheek against Marinette’s affectionately, “Besides, my best friend doesn’t just fall for anyone, either way he’s a great guy or there is no guy at all!” she grinned and Marinette giggled, hugging Alya back.

“Thanks Alya, you always know what to say to make me more confident.” With a playful smirk, Marinette gently nudged her best friend, “By the way, Nathaniel is giving you competition, he started learning how to cheer me up too.”

Alya clenched her hand into a fist, “That punk! How dare he! Oh, he should watch his ass when I come into one of his lectures! That paperball is going straight for tomato child!”

Marinette laughed.

**Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed! Thoughts so far? :3**


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